Several sitting DMK legislators and even some ministers have lost their constituencies in the final list of 63 seats announced for the Congress on Tuesday at the end of marathon negotiations.
Chief minister M. Karunanidhi released the list after he and TNCC president K.V. Thangkabalu signed the agreement which clearly yielded many 'winnable' seats to the Congress at DMK's expense.
The Congress got five seats — Anna Nagar, T. Nagar, Mylapore, Thiru Vi.Ka.Nagar (reserved) and Royapuram in the city and Poonamallee, Avadi, Alandur and Sriperumbudur in the suburbs. The party contested only from Royapuram in 2006. The Congress has got 19 seats in the southern districts, and 16 in the western districts.
It has chosen 12 reserved seats. Though it has spread itself across the state, it did not opt for a single seat in Dharmapuri and Theni districts.
The DMK's Salem strongman and agriculture minister Veerapandi Arumugam's favourite Salem North has been given to the ally and he is expected to contest from nearby Sankari. Forest minister N. Selvaraj has lost Musiri and is likely to move to nearby Manachanallur.
DMK's sitting MLA Udayam Shanmugam has lost Aranthangi to the Congress, which is a pocket-borough of former Union minister S. Thirunavukkarasar, in the P. Chidambaram camp now. The DMK had won the seat after a long time.
In the south, the DMK has gifted Radhapuram to the Congress which is represented by its legislator Appavu. When the TMC denied him a ticket, he revolted and won it in 2001 as an Independent before joining the DMK.
Yielding to heavy pressure to accommodate Youth Congress president M. Yuvaraja, the DMK has allotted Erode West, being held by former minister N.K.K.P. Raja, who is expected to move to nearby Andhiyur. Krishnagiri district DMK secretary Senguttuvan lost his Krishangiri seat and will be moving to nearby Veppanapalli. The Congress also managed to get two seats in Madurai, considered to be the backyard of Mr Karunanidhi's son Alagiri. The Congress has retained all its sitting seats of 34. When some constituencies got reserved for dalits and some truncated, the party got adjacent seats to accommodate the existing legislators.