The AIADMK, facing the electorate in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll with just the BJP for an ally, drew a blank. The DMK-led alliance (Congress, PMK, MDMK, CPI, CPI(M) and IUML) swept all the 39 seats, polling an incredible 57.4 per cent votes, while the AIADMK-BJP alliance could secure just 34.8 per cent. Early in 2005, Karunanidhi had come to an understanding with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi that each alliance partner, other than the DMK, would be allotted just four assembly seats for every Lok Sabha seat the party held. Each parliamentary constituency accounts for six assembly constituencies. The surplus two seats per LS constituency would go into the DMK kitty. By this logic, the Congress, which has 10 MPs in the 13th Lok Sabha, would be entitled to contest 40 seats, the MDMK with four MPs 16 seats and so on. Only such a hard bargain would enable the DMK to remain the dominant partner and contest at least 140 seats. Says a DMK leader: "The DMK is averse to getting into a situation in which it would have to depend on allies to muster a majority in the assembly." However, the DMK might have to reckon with a situation where it could emerge as the single largest party but without touching the magic 118 figure for a simple majority.