AIADMK Allots 19 Southern Seats to Alliance Partners Ahead of TN Polls
AIADMK Allots 19 Southern Seats to Alliance Partners Ahead of TN Polls
AIADMK distributes 19 southern Assembly seats to NDA allies, boosting BJP's tally while keeping key strongholds, as Tamil Nadu gears up for the state polls.
AIADMK has allotted 19 Assembly constituencies in ten southern districts to alliance parties, with the NDA set to contest from 39 of the 58 seats in these districts. The major beneficiary is the BJP, which will field candidates in 12 seats, followed by AMMK with four, Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) with two, and Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) with one. In Kanniyakumari district, the party handed over five of six seats to its allies—four to the BJP and one (Killiyoor) to the TMC—while retaining the single Kanniyakumari seat that was won in 2021 by N. Dhalavai Sundaram. AIADMK, meanwhile, retains all 12 southern seats it won in the 2021 Assembly elections, including Sivaganga, Melur, Madurai West, Thirupparankundram, Usilampatti (all in Madurai), Bodinayakanur (Theni), Srivilliputtur (SC) (Virudhunagar), Kovilpatti (Thoothukudi), Kadayanallur and Alangulam (Tenkasi), Ambasamudram (Tirunelveli), and Kanniyakumari (Kanniyakumari district).
BJP’s planned contest slate includes Tirupattur and Manamadurai (SC) in Sivaganga district, Madurai South, Ramanathapuram, Sattur, Tiruchendur, Vasudevanallur (SC) in Tenkasi district, Radhapuram, Nagercoil, Vilavancode, Colachel, and Padmanabhapuram in Kanniyakumari district. Interestingly, the Tirunelveli Assembly constituency, previously won by BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran, is not on the list of seats for the national party, with Nagenthran likely to contest Sattur in Virudhunagar district. The move signals a strategic push by AIADMK to consolidate NDA strength in the southern belt ahead of the elections, while mapping out how the opposition’s responses might unfold on the ground.
