CHENNAI: After parting ways before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls Congress and DMK on Saturday announced their coming together for the assembly election in Tamil Nadu. Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad announced that Congress would contest the election in the state as part of the DMK-led front.However, Congress, beset by factionalism and the exit of former Union minister G K Vasan, has a much smaller footprint in the state today. It may have to settle for fewer seats, probably 25 to 30 out of the total 238. In contrast, it had contested 63 seats in alliance with DMK in 2011 and won five of them.After an hour-long meeting at DMK chief M Karunanidhi's residence here, Azad said, "We have worked together, we have fought elections together, we have formed governments together, I am sure we will fight together in these coming months."Unlike in the past, Congress apparently had no preconditions for joining the alliance this time, especially since DMK is likely to apportion seats keeping in mind the need to accommodate more parties such as Vijayakanth's DMDK, IUML and perhaps other smaller outfits. The TN polls are expected to be a largely three-cornered contest, with AIADMK and allies and a BJP-led alliance as the other fronts. "First of all, our goal is that a DMK-led government should be in place," said Azad. On sharing power if DMK wins, Azad said it was a `small issue'."DMK, Congress and other allies will be a formidable combination to defeat other political parties," he said, flanked by TNCC chief E V K S Elangovan, who had earlier spoken of power-sharing as a pre-condition for the alliance.While there is uncertainty about DMDK joining the DMK-Congress alliance, the Congress leader said it was up to Vijayakanth to decide. "They (the DMK) are the principal ally, under whose leadership the election is being fought and should be fought," said Azad.After being part of the Congress-led UPA regime for over nine years, DMK pulled out in 2013 on the pretext of differences over the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils.The real issue was the huge anti-incumbency sentiment that built up against UPA under Manmohan Singh. So what has changed since 2013? Azad said: "Yes, sometimes, in politics there are compulsions, pressures, but by and large, DMK and Congress have gone together in assembly and Parliament elections on a number of occasions."