Tamil Nadu Assembly election: CPI (M) unrelenting in demand for six seats, stalemate in talks with DMK continues

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) remains unrelenting in its demand for six Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu, though the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is prepared to offer only five.

Even after three rounds of talks, the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement, as the CPI(M) State committee has taken a firm stand against settling for five seats. “We have conveyed the decision of the State committee to the DMK leadership,” a CPI(M) leader said on Thursday (March 19, 2026).

He added even during the previous election, the DMK had indicated that it would offer more seats in the next election. “But that has not happened. We are answerable to the State committee, not to any individual. The DMK plans to contest in around 170 seats; it could reconsider its allocation,” the leader said.

The DMK’s argument is that it cannot part with more seats as it has accommodated additional parties in the alliance and has already given three more seats to the Congress. It has allotted only five seats to the Communist Party of India, which had contested six seats in the 2021 Assembly elections.

The DMK is keen on finalising its pact with the CPI(M) before proceeding with talks with the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). The VCK, which was allotted six seats in 2021, is likely to be given a couple more, while the DMDK has already been allotted a Rajya Sabha seat. The party is now demanding a double-digit number of Assembly seats, but the DMK has asked its leader Premallatha Vijayakant to scale down the demand.

The DMK leadership does not want to create a situation in which it would be reduced to a minority in the Assembly, as happened in the 2006 elections. At that time, it depended on the Congress and the PMK for support, and the late J. Jayalalithaa often referred to it as a “minority DMK government.”