Congress changes strategy, opts for senior T.N. leader to hold seat-sharing talks with DMK

Changing its strategy, the Congress high command has decided to depute a senior Congress leader from Tamil Nadu to hold seat-sharing talks with the DMK for the upcoming Assembly elections.

By now AICC in-charge of Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, who hails from Goa, was negotiating with the DMK as the chairman of his party’s seat-sharing committee.

However, tensions emerged between the two parties and as nomination filings for the Rajya Sabha elections were scheduled to end on March 5, the DMK had made it clear to the Congress that it would announce its position on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Sources said senior AICC leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, would hold a virtual meeting with a Congress leader from Tamil Nadu and decided to deputize him for talks with the DMK.