CHENNAI: A collective gasp went up when DMK announced 10 seats for ally DMDK. Because, even VCK, the most trusted and long-standing friend of DMK, had settled for eight seats. And DMDK, contesting as an AIADMK ally, had got just 0.43% votes in the 2021 assembly elections.So, why 10 seats? It turns out the deal was born less out of bargaining and more out of a promise not to bargain. The agreement was waiting to happen once DMK president M K Stalin invited DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth to join the alliance. “Ennai nambi vaanga (trust me and come)”, Stalin told her sometime late last year, according to a senior DMK leader. When Premalatha drove into Anna Arivalayam on Feb 19 to sign up for a Rajya Sabha seat for her brother L K Sudhish, the blueprint for the deal was ready.DMK had started talking to DMDK in August 2025, with E V Velu as the sole messenger; later, DMK deputy general secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi joined the talks. At the same time, AIADMK was also in touch with the DMDK leadership.For DMK, DMDK would help partly counter TVK president Vijay who had tried to cash in on the Vijayakant factor. Moreover, DMK realised that the late founder of DMDK still resonated with considerable sections of people, though they may not have voted for DMDK after his death.“We also found that though DMDK’s vote share had gone down drastically, the party still commanded some 30,000 booth-level agents,” said a DMK source.“DMDK appeal may not be overwhelming, but it has a presence across the state, unlike PMK whose influence is limited to some regions,” said a DMK leader. Stalin is understood to have consulted district-level functionaries before sealing the deal with Premalatha.DMDK initially sought 18 seats from both DMK and AIADMK. AIADMK offered her 14 seats. Around the same time, a section of Congress leaders was sending signals to TVK. This had the DMK leadership doubling down on its efforts to get DMDK. DMK first offered DMDK seven, then eight seats, stressing on the winnability of its side. DMDK brought down its ask to 12. When Congress stayed back and the Left parties lowered their demand, Premalatha settled for 10 on the DMK side.In the 2021 assembly election, DMDK, allied with AMMK after snapping ties with AIADMK over seat-sharing, secured a 0.43% vote share. It contested 60 seats across Tamil Nadu, polling between 858 and 25,908 votes, including 10,719 votes in Manapparai. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, after Vijayakanth’s death, DMDK contested as part of the AIADMK alliance and finished second or third in all five seats it fought. Vijayakanth’s son, Vijaya Prabhakaran, lost in Virudhunagar by 4,379 votes.
