T.N. Assembly election: DMK begins seat-sharing talks with allies, Congress leader K.C. Venugopal to meet Stalin

With the ruling DMK on Sunday (February 22, 2026) commencing seat-sharing talks with allies for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal has sought an appointment with DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. The meeting is scheduled to take place tonight. Senior Congress leader Girish Chodankar, who heads the party’s seat sharing negotiations team, is expected to accompany Mr. Venugopal. 

IUML seeks five seats

Earlier in the day, the DMK’s seat-sharing committee began talks with leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) at ‘Anna Arivalayam’, the former’s headquarters in Chennai. The IUML, which was allotted three seats in the 2021 Assembly elections, has now requested five seats. However, the DMK urged the party to scale down its demand.

Speaking to reporters, IUML leader Kader Mohideen said during former DMK president M. Karunanidhi’s time, Muslim political parties were allotted 16 constituencies. “We have now sought five seats. We hope at least four will be allotted,” he said.

Mr. Mohideen said the IUML was not merely a political party but a socio-political organisation representing the jamats in Tamil Nadu. “We maintain a balance between the Quran, the sayings of the Prophet and the Indian Constitution. We want 16 seats for Muslim organisations. There is hardly any constituency without Muslim voters,” he said.

T.R. Baalu, head of the DMK committee, reportedly pointed out to Mr. Mohideen that the IUML was unable to win in the three constituencies allotted to it in the 2021 elections.

Tickets to new allies

According to Mr. Mohideen, “Mr. Baalu underlined the need to allot seats to new entrants such as the DMDK (and Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam) and requested allies to sacrifice a few seats. The DMK is also prepared to ‘sacrifice’ a few seats.”