Congress to sign pact for 10 seats, including Puducherry; MNM not to contest in Congress ticket

CHENNAI: After days of hectic parleys, the Congress will sign a pact with the DMK on Saturday evening to contest in nine seats in Tamil Nadu and a lone seat in Puducherry for the Lok Sabha elections. Actor Kamal Haasan's MNM will not contest on a Congress ticket. According to sources, the Congress high command has been convinced by the DMK leadership to retain the same number of seats it contested in the 2019 LS polls. "The signing of the pact will be done in the presence of chief minister M K Stalin and AICC general secretaries K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik, and Tamil Nadu in charge Ajoy Kumar at 6pm today at the DMK headquarters," a senior leader said. Insiders say the Congress will retain the same number of seats but will not retain the same constituencies due to concerns raised by the DMK leadership, especially over five seats, including Krishnagiri, Karur, Trichy, and Virudhunagar. The Congress has also undertaken a survey following resistance in the DMK camp. MNM leader Kamal Haasan was originally offered a choice to contest on a Congress ticket against the backdrop of the Congress losing its Theni seat in the 2019 LS polls. However, the Congress remains firm in retaining its nine seats and the lone seat in Puducherry. It is unclear how Kamal Haasan will contest in the DMK-Congress alliance, either on the DMK's Rising Sun or on his own Torch symbol.