Tamil Nadu Assembly Poll 2026: NDA Inks Deal: E Palaniswami To Get 175-Odd Seats, BJP 27, PMK Share Down

The NDA has finalised the seat sharing deal for Tamil Nadu with AIADMK getting the lion's share -- 175-odd seats. Of the rest, 27 goes to the BJP and 18 to Anbumani Ramadoss's PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi).  Eleven seats have been given to TTV Dhinakaran's  AMMK (Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam), which had failed to win any seats in 2021 while leading the People's Front Alliance. 

Elections in the southern state will be held on the 234 seats of the state on April 23 and the counting of votes will take place on May 4. 

Under the seat share arrangement, the BJP is getting seven more seats than it got 2021 -- one less than the Congress, which is contesting in alliance with the ruling DMK of MK Stalin. 

Read: Sasikala-Ramadoss Alliance May Incur Heavy Cost On NDA In Tamil Nadu Polls

A chunk of the BJP seats, 5, is coming from the PMK, which contested 23 seats last time. 

In 2021, NDA constituents AIADMK had contested 191 seats and won 66 seats, while the PMK candidates in 23 constituencies, and won just five seats. The BJP, which contested 20 seats, bagged four. 

The slide of the PMK -- once enjoying staunch backing from the Vanniyar community -- has been put down to multiple factors, including an erosion of its voter base which led to a weakening in its strongholds. 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the party failed to win any seats and its performance in the civic polls held since has also been lacklustre. 

Read: AIADMK Faces Existential Battle In 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections

Over the recent months, the   party has been riddled with factional rivalry - factor that has also contributed to its poor performance.

In contrast, the BJP's growing foothold is seen as a successful breach in the Dravidian politics that has dominated the state for over 50 years. 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had contested in alliance with smaller parties after the AIADMK ended their alliance, calling the northern party a liability in the south politics.  

The victory of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in 2021 had been absolute, with the bloc winning 133 of the 188 seats it contested.

DMK's ally, the Congress, contested 25 seats and won 18. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi contested six seats and won four, while both the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) contested six seats each, winning two each. The Indian Union Muslim League, however, failed to open its account, contesting three seats but winning none. 

The coming election is expected to be a five-cornered contest, where the alliance of PMK founder S Ramadoss and VK Sasikala's brand new AIPTMMK (All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam) is expected to play spoiler for the state's opposition alliance. 

The alliance led by AIADMK had been suffering a lean phase since the death of its iconic leader and then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 2017 and the loss in the RK Nagar by-election in December that year. The party, which lost the 2021 assembly election and had lacklustre performance in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls -- considers this year's election an existential  battle that may also determine the future of the Dravidian politics in the state. 

(With inputs from Aradhana S)