Congress, DMK stand their ground, fail to seal pact

Despite senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram stepping in and holding an hour-long meeting with DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, on Tuesday (March 3, 2026) to break the ice over seat-sharing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, the gap between the Congress’s expectations and the DMK’s offer persisted, preventing the two parties from finalising a pact.

Sources said the DMK raised its offer from 25 to 27 Assembly seats and one Rajya Sabha seat, while the Congress leadership is demanding 30 Assembly seats and a Rajya Sabha seat.

Though Mr. Chidambaram conveyed the DMK’s offer to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who, along with Sonia Gandhi, had asked him to negotiate on the party’s behalf, the proposal still awaits Rahul Gandhi’s approval.

Meanwhile, the DMK allotted one Rajya Sabha seat to the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), led by Premallatha Vijayakant. The agreement, signed by Mr. Stalin and DMDK treasurer L.K. Sudheesh, said both parties would hold talks to finalise a seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly election. Thus, for the first time, the DMDK is set to get representation in the Rajya Sabha, though it does not have a single legislator in the Assembly.

There are three more Rajya Sabha seats, which the DMK can fill with support from its allies during the March 16 biennial elections. The party has earmarked two for its own candidates. However, the DMK was unable to announce its candidates as it has not received any response from the Congress high command to its offer.

The DMK had earlier set Tuesday (March 3, 2026) as the deadline for the Congress leadership to return to the negotiation table after AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar had rejected the DMK’s offer of 25 seats.

On Tuesday (March 3, 2026) morning, Mr. Chidambaram agreed to play peacemaker. During the meeting, the Chief Minister reportedly told Mr. Chidambaram the issue could have been resolved much earlier had the Congress deputed him as mediator. He agreed to increase the number of seats to 27 “out of respect” for Mr. Chidambaram.

According to sources, Mr. Stalin explained the DMK had significantly strengthened its organisation over the past five years and that the welfare measures implemented by the State government had further consolidated public support.

“The estimation of the DMK in the eyes of the people will go down if it reduces its share of seats,” he reportedly told Mr. Chidambaram.

The DMK is keen to contest as many seats as possible, as it is wary of a repeat of the 2006 situation, when the party was reduced to a minority in the Assembly and had to depend on the Congress and the PMK for survival.

A Congress leader while expressing concern over what he described as the “adamance” of the party high command, wondered what prevented the DMK from allotting 30 Assembly seats to the Congress. He raised the question against the backdrop of speculation that the DMK could offer the DMDK, a recent entrant, 10 Assembly seats, which was grossly disproportionate to its vote share of around 0.5%.