Congress appoints five-member panel to engage in seat-sharing talks with DMK ahead of 2026 Assembly polls in TN

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has formed a five-member committee to engage in seat-sharing discussions with the ruling DMK ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election scheduled to take place in 2026. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K Selvaperunthagai informed the same on Saturday. The party in charge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Girish Chodankar, will lead the committee. Selvaperunthagai and the legislature party leader S Rajeshkumar will also play a key role in the panel. In an X post, Senior Congress leader, Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Minister P Chidambaram welcomed the party high command for appointing the committee and asserted that this move would strengthen the INDIA bloc's unity. ' ' ' ' P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 22, 2025 Chidambaram also stated that he believed that this announcement would put an end to the rumors that are occasionally spread about Congress's alliance ahead of the polls. Committee formation announcement gains significance as talks were doing rounds that Congress might snap ties with DMK and join hands with actor-politician Vijay-led Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Notably, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had reached out to Vijay over the phone to express his condolences over the tragic stampede at his political rally in Karur that claimed 41 lives.