Tamil Nadu elections: AIADMK set to contest up to 170 seats

AIADMK is likely to retain around 160 to 170 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections as seat-sharing talks with NDA allies reach the final stage. BJP, PMK, and other parties are expected to get a limited number of constituencies

Chennai: With nine days left for the filing of nominations for the Tamil Nadu Assembly election to begin, the seat-sharing parleys in the AIADMK-led NDA have entered a crucial phase and the lead party of the bloc is likely to retain about 170 seats, party sources said on Saturday.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami’s New Delhi visit on March 19 has finalised the numbers, and the party is likely to retain about 160 to 170 seats out of the 234 Assembly constituencies in the state.

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“This is to ensure that the AIADMK obtains a majority on its own to form the government,” a senior party leader said.

The party requires a simple majority of 118 MLAs to form the government on its own. Palaniswami, who heads the NDA in the state, has already set a target of winning 210 seats and is being projected as the chief ministerial face of the bloc.

The BJP is likely to be allocated 30 seats, up by 10 from the number it contested in the 2021 Assembly election, while the PMK (Anbumani) is likely to be given about 17 seats. TTV Dhinakaran-led AMMK, the latest entrant to the NDA fold, might get nine, while former Union minister G K Vasan-led TMC will get three seats, an AIADMK source said. The smaller parties in the alliance will contest either on AIADMK’s two leaves symbol or BJP’s lotus symbol, the source added.

“Our party senior and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is directly involved in the seat-sharing talks and already the initial round with Palaniswami has been completed,” a senior BJP leader said.

After Shah’s talks with PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss and AMMK general secretary Dhinakaran in the national capital, BJP Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal will arrive in Chennai to finalise the pact, he added.

During the 2021 Assembly election, the AIADMK, part of the BJP-led NDA then, contested 179 seats and secured 66, while the BJP contested 20 and won four Assembly seats and entered the House after a gap of two decades.

The PMK, which was allotted 23 seats, had won five, but the party suffered a split last year owing to a leadership dispute between S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani. The latter has entered into an alliance with the BJP this time, while senior Ramadoss has aligned with V K Sasikala, a former close aide of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.