AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam separately announced separately that BJP and PMK would support the AIADMK in the bypolls to 21 assembly seats which would decide the survival of the EK Palaniswami government.
Political activities gained momentum in Tamil Nadu after the AIADMK-led alliance on Tuesday finalised seat-sharing with the BJP and PMK for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. Its arch-rival DMK will likely announce its deal with Congress on Wednesday.
The alliance is for all the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry. While the BJP will contest in five, the PMK, which enjoys support of the numerically strong Vanniyar community in northern and parts of Western Tamil Nadu will contest in seven seats. It will also get a Rajya Sabha berth.
AIADMK coordinator and Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam separately announced separately that BJP and PMK would support the AIADMK in the bypolls to 21 assembly seats which would decide the survival of the EK Palaniswami government.
Apart from BJP and PMK, the AIADMK-led alliance might bring Vijayakanth's DMDK, Vasan's Tamil Maanila Congress and two minor parties to its fold.
"I am extremely delighted that today AIADMK and BJP have concluded very fruitful discussion...We have agreed to contest the elections at the state level under the leadership of chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy CM O Panneerselvam and at the national level as part of NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Union minister and BJP's Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal told reporters.
The alliance looks stronger in western and northern Tamil Nadu if one goes by the past performance of its constituents parties in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and 2016 Assembly polls. Though AIADMK has suffered rebellion led by VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, the ruling party still now enjoys a considerable support base in these areas.
Meanwhile, the Congress is likely to contest in 10 Lok Sabha seats in the DMK-led alliance and an agreement is expected to be signed on Wednesday. The Congress will get to contest in nine seats in TN and the lone Puducherry LS seat.
A decision to this effect was finalised after the meeting between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi in New Delhi on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president KS Alagiri and DMK president MK Stalin would sign a formal pact in Chennai on Wednesday.
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