Tamil Nadu: How BJP and Congress managed a better bargain in 2026

Despite being junior partners to stronger regional Dravidian players, both national parties—the BJP and the Congress—managed to secure better seat-sharing deals in their respective alliances for the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections, which political observers attribute to a combination of reasons such as strategic bargaining, shifting alliance dynamics, and external factors. In the upcoming polls, the BJP is contesting 27 seats, and the Congress 28 seats in their respective alliances—an improvement from the last elections in 2021.

One of the primary reasons for this increased seat share is said to be aggressive negotiation, but shifts in internal alliance dynamics and external political developments also played a key role. For the Congress, the “Vijay factor” helped leverage a better deal, while the BJP used its superior position at the Centre, improving vote share in the state and the weakened status of allies to its benefit.

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According to the NDA seat-sharing agreement, the AIADMK, which is leading the alliance, is contesting 178 seats. Other allies include the PMK with 18 seats and the AMMK with 11 seats. In the 2021 elections, the BJP contested 20 seats and recorded a vote share of approximately 2.6%. They were followed by the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in which the BJP did not win any seats but recorded its highest-ever vote share in the state—approximately 11.2%—indicating a growing footprint, thus strengthening its case for a larger presence in the Assembly.

Senior BJP leaders Amit Shah and Piyush Goyal were practically calling the shots within the AIADMK-led NDA, focusing on securing “winnable” constituencies, particularly in temple belts where pro-Hindutva sentiment is considered stronger, so it was an easy go, say observers.

The party further increased its seat share by capitalising on the weakened position of allies like the PMK, which had contested more seats in the last elections.

As for the Congress, it contested 25 seats in 2021 as part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), winning 18. For the 2026 elections, it was said to be negotiating for 40-plus seats—similar to its 2016 allocation—citing a strong strike rate and organisational presence.

Apparently, the possibility of aligning with actor-politician Vijay’s party, TVK, was also used to pressure the DMK into offering a better deal. When talks stalled, senior leader P. Chidambaram intervened to finalise the deal with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, as a part of which the DMK agreed to allocate a Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress.