The seat-sharing deadlock between the DMK and the Congress for the upcoming Assembly election is expected to be resolved soon, as a delegation from the ruling party is set to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday.
According to sources in both parties, DMK Parliamentary Party leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi is set to meet Mr. Gandhi to convey her party high-command’s offer of seats for the Assembly election.
“In the last election, the Congress was offered 25 seats and won 18. We may improve the offer by giving two more seats,” a source in the DMK said.
Confirming the development, a source close to the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee leadership said the DMK delegation may meet other senior leaders of the Congress, too, and come up with a deal that is “agreeable to both” parties.
The DMK source said AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal was in touch with Ms. Kanimozhi. “A final agreement may not happen on Wednesday,” the source said, but added that the talks would move forward in the right direction.
The DMK also took a step towards improving its relations with the Congress, with DMK organisation secretary R.S. Bharathi on Tuesday appealing to party cadre to avoid expressing their views on the alliance, seats, and allies in public. His statement came against the backdrop of a DMK legislator in Madurai making sharp comments against the Congress on Monday.
The proposed meeting in Delhi comes at a time when some Congress leaders are insisting that the DMK should agree to a coalition government, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s example of accommodating his allies despite winning a brute majority at the Centre in the past.
A Congress leader, however, said the speculation that the Congress would be given only 27 or 28 seats was not correct. “I am certain the Congress will be allotted a respectable number of seats. Our high command will also communicate the party’s expectations to the DMK, and we will also listen to their perspective. We will arrive at an agreement soon,” he said.
Another senior TNCC leader said, “It is not worth breaking the INDIA bloc at the national level for merely a few more seats in Tamil Nadu.”
Published – January 27, 2026 09:54 pm IST
