Tamil Nadu Elections 2026: NDA seals deal, AIADMK to contest over 170 seats, BJP gets 27

Chennai:

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday finalised its seat-sharing pact for elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The seat-sharing was finalised in the presence of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who is the election in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Other NDA leaders such as BJP's Tamil Nadu unit chief Nainar Nagendran, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss, and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dinakaran were also present during the signing of the pact at AIADMK headquarters in Chennai.

As per the agreement, the BJP has been allotted 27 seats, seven more than what it was given in the 2021 Tamil Nadu polls. Meanwhile, the PMK and the AMMK were given 18 and 11 seats, respectively. The AIADMK, on the other hand, has retained the lion's share and is likely to contest over 170 seats. The picture will become more clear once the share of smaller outfits such as GK Vasan's Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar), TR Paarivendhar-led Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK), M Jagan Moorthy's Puratchi Bharatham Katchi (PBK), AC Shanmugam's Puthiya Needhi Katchi (PNK), B John Pandian-led Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), and KC Thirumaran's South Indian Forward Bloc (SIFB) will be known. Most of these parties are expected to contest either under the AIADMK symbol or the BJP symbol.

"We are all one family, and we will fight the elections to win them. We are very satisfied with the 27 seats; we will sweep the elections, as the people of the state are fed up with CM Stalin and DCM Udhayanidhi Stalin. They have hurt the culture of the state. NDA will form the government in the state," said Goyal.

2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls

In the previous elections, the AIADMK had contested 191 seats, winning 66 of them. Despite this, the party was hell-bent on contesting the same number of seats. Quoting a senior AIADMK leader, news agency PTI had reported last week that the party wants to secure a clear majority on its own in the coastal state, and that's why it was keen on contesting as many seats as possible.

Coming to the BJP, the saffron party had contested 20 seats in 2021, winning just four of them. These were Coimbatore South, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, and Modakkurichi. It must be mentioned here that the BJP was looking to contest 30 seats this time but has been given 27. 

The polling for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on April 23. The results will be declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), along with those in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, and the Union Territory (UT) of Puducherry, on May 4.