Lok Sabha polls; AIADMK allots one seat to Puthiya Thamilagam

: The ruling AIADMK Saturday signed a poll pact with Puthiya Thamilagam by alloting one parliamentary constituency to it, party Coordinator O Panneerselvam said.

Puthiya Thamilagam President K Krishnaswamy along with his supporters held discussions with the AIADMK seat sharing committee at its party office here.

Emerging after signing an alliance with Krishnaswamy, Panneerselvam, also the Deputy Chief Minister, said a parliamentary constituency has been allotted to Puthiya Thamilagam for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

"For the 21 seats that are lying vacant in Tamil Nadu, Puthiya Thamiliagam would extend its support for the AIADMK candidates", he told reporters.

While 18 assembly seats are lying vacant following the disqualification of the dissident MLAs (who owe allegiance to rebel leader MLA TTV Dhinakaran) by the Speaker, three other seats fell vacant following the demise of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi in 2018, AIADMK MLA A K Bose (Thiruparankundram) and Hosur constitutency following disqualification of the MLA.

In the 2016 assembly polls, Puthiya Thamilagam unsuccessfully contested four seats by forging an alliance with the DMK under the leadership of M Karunanidhi.

Meanwhile, BJP Tamil Nadu unit President Tamilisai Soundararajan said she was happy that Puthiya Tamilagam has come into the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

AIADMK concluded its poll deal with the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) by allotting five and seven seats to them respectively.

Soundararajan expressed hope that the DMDK, led by Vijayakanth, would also join the alliance soon.