Relief for CPM, Congress as Kamal settles for Rajya Sabha seat

CHENNAI: Actor-politician Kamal Haasan has sealed the deal with the DMK by settling for a Rajya Sabha seat and forgoing his demand of Lok Sabha seats. Now that Kamal Haasan has come to a compromise, the CPM is likely to retain the Coimbatore seat since the MNM chief was looking to contest from the constituency.

This would also give the DMK enough room to accommodate the Congress' demand and wrap up the stalled seat-sharing talks today evening itself. The Grand Old Party has deputed big guns like AICC general secretary (organisation) and close Rahul aide KC Venugopal to lead the discussion and finish the negotiations today itself.

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As DT Next had reported, Kamal initially demanded two Lok Sabha seats, including Coimbatore and South Chennai. The first segment was won by CPM and the other by DMK in 2019 elections.

The long-drawn negotiations had a cascading effect on the seat-sharing talks with DMK's existing allies, Congress and CPM.

As the DMK managed to arrive at a win-win situation with MNM, CPM is likely to retain Coimbatore, while Congress' demand for 10 seats would also likely be met.

Addressing the media at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam after signing the pact, Kamal said MNM will campaign for the victory of the INDIA bloc candidates in all 40 constituencies, including Puducherry, and defeat the communal forces.