After Tamil Nadu election ticket snub, ex-AIADMK MLA & MK Alagiri loyalist joins DMK

Former AIADMK MLA and MK Alagiri supporter Muthuramalingam joined DMK ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on Sunday after the ruling party denied him a ticket for the polls. Muthuramalingam joined DMK in the presence of party chief MK Stalin after he was denied a ticket for the upcoming elections. The former AIADMK leader is known to be close to expelled DMK leader and MK Stalin's brother Alagiri. Rumours of Karunanidhi's eldest son entering the fray in the elections did rounds earlier in January, with reports of him possibly allying with the BJP emerged. However, Alagiri did not make any announcement regarding his intentions to fight the polls. 

DMK-led alliance

DMK finalized the seat-sharing pact with ally Congress after multiple rounds of negotiations and allotted 25 seats along with the Lok Sabha constituency of Kanyakumari to the grand old party. DMK also inked the seat-sharing agreement with Left ally CPI(M) after multiple rounds of deliberation, as the latter demanded more seats to contest from whereas the former refused to budge. Apart from Congress and CPI(M), DMK also sealed the alliance with Viduthalai Makkal Katchi (VCK), allotting them six seats for the Assembly elections.

Three seats were given by DMK to Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) while two seats were allotted to Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK). Stalin's party had also sealed the seat-sharing agreement with the Communist Party of India (CPI), giving them six seats. MDMK's chief Vaiko informed on Saturday that the DMK chief MK Stalin has signed an agreement by which 6 assembly seats have been allotted to MDMK. The Kongunaadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) finalized the seat-sharing pact with DMK chief MK Stalin on Tuesday, agreeing to field three candidates under DMK's symbol in the upcoming elections. KMDK general secretary NR Eswaran signed the seat-sharing pact at the DMK headquarters in Chennai along with other members of both parties. The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be held on April 6 and the result will be declared on May 2. 

Tamil Nadu elections

With AIADMK announcing its state alliance with BJP, the EPS-OPS-led party has declared itself as the ' big brother' in the NDA alliance. Former Jaya aide Sasikala announced her sudden decision to quit politics, thereby ending speculations of her role in the upcoming elections. The AIADMK has also survived a long-running tug-of-war over its leadership with Sasikala announcing her intention to retire from politics, and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran allying his AMMK with the SDPI, Asaduddin Owaiai's AIMIM and Captain Vijaykanth's DMDK. Meanwhile, in a bid to woo voters, EPS has announced a massive farm loan waiver, free COVID vaccines, Pongal gift and rescinded cases against Jallikattu protestors, anti-CAA protestors, COVID lockdown violators and Kudankulam nuclear power plant protestors. Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats.