Chennai, March 12 (IANS) In a surprise move Tamil Nadu CPI-M has agreed to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Madurai and Dindigul instead of its traditional seat in Coimbatore.

The INDIA bloc had allocated two seats to CPI-M in Tamil Nadu.

The party was keen to contest from Coimbatore and Madurai which is currently represented by its leaders P.R. Natarajan and Su Venkatesan respectively.

Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) President and Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan also wanted to contest from Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat as part of the INDIA bloc.

However, the move was opposed by CPI-M which demanded the Coimbatore seat.

On Tuesday, CPI-M State Secretary K. Balakrishnan signed the alliance deal with DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.