The DMK and the Indian National Congress on Thursday signed an agreement to form an alliance for the Puducherry Assembly elections. According to the deal, the Congress will contest from 15 seats and the DMK from 13. The remaining two constituencies would go to smaller allies.

The DMK had been internally debating going it alone in Puducherry. In an exclusive interview to CNN-News18, DMK leader MK Stalin had said the prevailing sentiment among the DMK was to face the elections alone. In fact, the Puducherry election in-charge for DMK had made a vow to work hard to enable the victory of his party in all seats.

The alliance has been sealed after a personal call from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, according to several sources.

The Congress-DMK alliance also faced turbulent times after a DMK MLA quit the government, causing a crisis in the Assembly which led to the imposition of President’s rule for a brief period.

The V Narayanasamy-led Congress accused the BJP of engineering the crisis.

Meanwhile, NR Rangasamy has joined hands with the BJP and the AIADMK for the elections, and will be the CM candidate. Puducherry, along with Tamil Nadu, goes to polls on April 6.