AIADMK and BJP Begin Seat-Sharing Negotiations for Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections

Chennai: AIADMK and BJP will kick-start their seat-sharing negotiations for the April-May assembly elections on Thursday with the saffron party planning to drive a hard bargain based on its 2024 Lok Sabha election performance of 11 per cent votes. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal would lead the talks from the BJP side, while the AIADMK would be represented by its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and his colleagues. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE. Experience a more refined e-paper today READ TODAY'S EPAPER ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT BJP is believed to have sought about 50 seats for the party, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) of T T V Dhinakaran, and a couple of other parties that have been part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for some time. Dhinakaran, who formed the AMMK in 2018 after he was expelled from the AIADMK, has made it clear that he would negotiate for seats only with the BJP as it was the saffron party that brought him back into the NDA. Also Read:Rajya Sabha elections: Dravidian majors brace for hard bargain by allies Also Read:Rajya Sabha elections: Dravidian majors brace for hard bargain by allies “The central leadership wants about 35 seats for the BJP and another 15 seats to be distributed among parties like the AMMK. We have told the AIADMK leadership that the seat-sharing arrangement in 2026 should be proportionate to the party’s performance in 2024 polls. We are not ready to accept the same 20 seats allotted to us in 2021,” a senior BJP leader told DH. AMMK, the BJP leader said, wants to contest in about 8 to 10 seats, while A C Shanmugam’s New Justice Party, John Pandian’s Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam want two seats each, while the BJP will allot the remaining seats to other parties. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Another BJP leader said the party has conveyed to the AIADMK through back channels that it won’t settle for less than 30 assembly seats this time as it would "lower the morale" of the cadre. “AMMK has been insisting that they cannot contest in less than eight seats as the party has at least eight former legislators who lost their posts mid-term due to their disqualification. "So, that is why we want 40-50 seats for the NDA bloc,” the second leader said. However, the AIADMK seems to be playing the hardball saying it can at the maximum allot 25 to the BJP and another 10 seats to the NDA bloc as the party is clear on contesting at least 170 seats on its own. The AIADMK has also promised the PMK 17 or 18 seats along with a Rajya Sabha seat for its president Anbumani Ramadoss, while it would allot seats from its quota to parties like G K Vasan’s Tamil Maanila Congress. “We want to contest in about 170 seats. We can’t accommodate the BJP’s demand for 50 seats as it is too high. We hope an amicable number will be agreed by both sides during the negotiations,” a senior AIADMK leader said, adding that the agreements with parties will be signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Madurai on March 1. ADVERTISEMENT Published 25 February 2026, 19:26 IST India News BJP Tamil Nadu Indian Politics AIADMK Assembly election Follow us on : Follow Us Read More