EC gives BJP, Cong one week’s time to respond to poll code violations
The poll panel on Saturday wrote to BJP president J P Nadda and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge seeking their comments over the matter by 1 pm on Monday.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress on Sunday finalised the seat-sharing deal for the upcoming Tami Nadu elections in which the DMK has allocated 25 seats to its ally Congress. The national party has also been allocated the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency that will go for by-polls following the death of Congress MP Vasanthakumar.
The seat-sharing deal was signed between DMK President MK Stalin and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President KS Alagiri at DMK’s headquarters in Chennai after a week-long deadlock in negotiations between the allies. MK Stalin led DMK will contest on 180 seats.
On the Kanyakumari LS seat, the BJP candidate, Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan was defeated by Congress leader Vasanthakumar in the 2019 general elections.
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The Congress wanted 45 seats but the DMK was adamant to offer a maximum of 21, according to news agency IANS. The seat allocation deal was finalised after a late-night call by Rahul Gandhi to MK Stalin according to news agency IANS.
TN Congress president had said that the ‘ball is the DMK’s court’ when it came to seat-sharing for the elections. He said, “The ball is in their court. Hence, it is the DMK which has to decide.”
In the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress was allocated 41 seats and it had won eight of them.
The DMK, which is the principal opposition in Tamil Nadu, hopes to return to power after 10 years and has allocated six seats to VCK, MDMK and CPI, three to Indian Union Muslim League and two to Manithaneya Makkal Katchi while it is in talks with CPM.
The seat-sharing deal has been finalised after AIADMK had allotted 20 seats to the BJP.
Tamil Nadu, which has 234 Assembly seats, goes to polls in a single phase on April 6. The results will be declared on May 2.
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