The first of the Congress-DMK seat-sharing talks held at the DMK headquarters in Chennai on Sunday reaffirmed the partnership between the two allies, coming as positive news for the INDIA bloc after blows from the exit of the Janata Dal (United), and issues with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In the negotiations, senior Congress and DMK leaders are learnt to have agreed on 9 seats for the former, which is also the number of seats the party contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Last time, the Congress had won eight of the nine seats it contested and lost only in Theni, which had gone to the AIADMK. Congress ally DMK had won all the 20 seats it had contested from. The Congress had a 12.6% vote share, while the DMK polled 33.5% of the votes.

In all, the alliance led by the DMK in the state, which comprises the Congress, CPM, CPI, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and other smaller parties in Tamil Nadu, had won 38 of the 39 seats in the state.

On Sunday, a team of Congress leaders, headed by Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik, who is the convenor of the National Alliance Committee (NAC), former Union minister Salman Khurshid and Congress Tamil Nadu chief K S Alaigiri, held the talks with the DMK side, which was represented by party MP T R Baalu.

After the talks, Wasnik said that “like-minded parties will move together and once again earn the confidence of the people of Tamil Nadu”.

This alliance, Wasnik said, “is crucial to combat divisive forces and safeguard democracy”.

The Congress demand for nine seats mirrors its previous election strategy of focusing on constituencies in the southern part of the state, which include Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Arani, Tiruvallur or Kanchipuram, Trichy, Karur.

DMK sources said that while nine seats were “guaranteed” for the Congress, “adjustments in the constituencies were possible”. Sources also hinted that at least three seats may be swapped, potentially Krishnagiri, Trichy, and Tiruvallur, from the Congress kitty.

“The Congress may be offered Thanjavur or Mayiladuthurai, depending on its comfort. We would be contesting about 24 (out of 39) seats in the final list,” a DMK leader said.

The DMK is yet to commence talks with its other alliance partners. The party’s coordination and manifesto committees have been actively engaging with district-level functionaries to gather information for the forthcoming polls.

In the seat-sharing talks to be held in the coming weeks, the DMK could allocate two seats each to the CPI and CPI(M). Similarly, two seats are expected for the VCK led by VCK. The MDMK led by Vaiko, Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needi Maim, and the Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam, are likely to secure a seat each.

In some of these seats, candidates of other parties may contest under the DMK symbol.