Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 9: The seat-sharing of the opposition INDIA block in Tamil Nadu has been completed with actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) also joining the alliance but only from outside.
Though no official announcement has yet been made about the number of seats the each contesting parties had been allocated, the Congress sources said the party would put up candidates on 10 seats. Kamal Haasan’s party would not be contesting the Lok Sabha elections but the party had been assured a seat in the Rajya Sabha in the 2025 elections in return for the support to the alliance in the coming Parliamentary elections.
An official announcement, sources say, would be made after a meeting between the Congress and the DMK in a day or two. “Our team will meet the Chief Minister. We are getting a total of ten seats,” a senior Congress leader said.
Mr Haasan said he has joined the DMK-led alliance for the country’s welfare. “I will not contest. I have joined the DMK-led alliance for the sake of the country, and not for any post,” Mr Haasan said. “I extend my full support to the alliance,” he said after meeting the Chief Minister at Anna Arivalayam – the DMK headquarters in Chennai.
MNM will campaign for the alliance in the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry segment, sources said. The chief minister MK Stalin’s DMK has allotted two seats each to the Communist Party of India and CPIM, as well as one each to the Indian Union Muslim League and the Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi has also been allotted two seats.
DMK had been working on an accord with the Congress, an INDIA bloc ally with whom it scored dominant wins in the 2019 general and 2021 state elections. Seen as one of the key architects of the INDIA alliance, M K Stalin’s DMK is keen to repeat the 2019 sweep.
Mr Haasan’s MNM joining the alliance signalled a new phase in the state’s politics, showing Haasan aligning with the DMK to stay relevant, despite his initial aim of challenging both the established parties, DMK and AIADMK. Initially Haasan wanted the Chennai south seat but the DMK, protective of its urban stronghold, declined. With the decision on him for weeks, Haasan ultimately chose the Rajya Sabha seat, committing to support the DMK-led campaign in the elections.
The decision on Saturday to give MNM one seat for the 2025 Rajya Sabha polls, reflecting a broader strategy to consolidate support while managing electoral dynamics. While the deal primarily focused on campaign collaboration, it is significant as the decision is also about DMK adding one more party to their coalition framework.
“My party and I are not contesting this election. But we will give all cooperation to this alliance. We have joined hands as this is not just for a position, this is for the nation,” Haasan said, elaborating on the ideological alignment and common cause between the MNM and the DMK. MNM’s commitment includes extensive campaign efforts across Tamil Nadu’s 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and one seat in Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency.
Previously, the DMK had finalised seat-sharing arrangements with key allies, repeating its 2019 formula, including VCK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, MDMK and KMDK. Haasan, since launching the MNM in 2018, has been a vocal advocate for change in Tamil Nadu. Despite the party’s defeats in both the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections, and the subsequent exodus of all top leaders, Haasan views the alliance with the DMK as critical for survival.
In the last two years, Haasan’s political journey was also about joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul Gandhi revealing his keen interest to stay alive in politics. His affinity with the Congress was known in the political circles as he tried to align MNM with the DMK coalition during the 2021 Assembly elections itself through the help of Congress but DMK resisted seat sharing with the MNM.
MNM’s electoral performance, garnering a 3.72% vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and a 2.52% in the 2021 Assembly elections, reflects both its impact and its challenges. Notably, in Coimbatore and South Chennai, MNM’s strong performance in 2019, with 1.44 lakh and 1.35 lakh votes respectively, continue to be the leverage it has in political negotiations even today. Despite a declining vote share in 2021, MNM’s third-place finish in nine seats during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections played a role in DMK considering them in the alliance in 2024.
Meanwhile, the Congress suffered a jolt in Madhya Pradesh with senior leader and former Union minister Suresh Pachouri, ex-MP Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi and several others, including the party’s former MLAs joining the BJP in Bhopal on Saturday. They joined the BJP in the presence of the MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, state BJP president VD Sharma and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the party’s state headquarters in the morning. Former MLAs Sanjay Shukla, Arjun Paliya, Vishal Patel were among the leaders of the grand old party who also joined the ruling outfit.
Mr Pachouri, who was close to the Gandhi family, was Union minister of state for defence (defence production and supplies), and also served as a four-time Rajya Sabha member of the grand old party. Mr Pachouri had earlier held several key positions in the Congress, including the post of the party’s Madhya Pradesh unit president. He was also the state unit president of the Youth Congress.
Mr Rajukhedi, a prominent tribal leader, was elected as an MP from Dhar (Scheduled Tribes) Lok Sabha seat on the Congress ticket for three terms – 1998, 1999 and 2009. Before joining the Congress, he was elected as a BJP MLA in 1990.
