The ruling All India Anna Dravid Munetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, which had won 132 of the 140 seats it contested in 2001, on Friday decided to seek mandate from a record number of 182 constituencies in the coming assembly elections.
Announcing the constituencies it would be contesting in the May 8 polls to the 234-member assembly, the party said it would leave 35 seats to its main ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, nine to Dalit Panthers of India, two each to Indian National League and Indian National Trade Union Congress, one each to Movendar Munnetra Kazhagam, Janata Dal (Secular) and splinter groups of Indian Union Muslim League and All India Forward Bloc.
However, the list was silent on allocation of seats to the newly-formed Tamizhaga Indira Congress floated by expelled Congress leader Tindivanam K Ramamurthee, Republican Party of India led by C K Tamizharasan, who had been supporting AIADMK right from 1984, and other small parties.
The party would contest nine of the 14 assembly seats in Chennai city, leaving four to the MDMK and one to IUML. Incidentally, IUML had been allotted Chepauk, now represented by DMK chief M Karunanidhi in the state assembly. Christening the AIADMK-led front as Democratic People's Alliance, sounding like the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance, party supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said she would be undertaking a campaign tour of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala from March 31. The maximum number of constituencies AIADMK had contested was 160 in 1984.