The Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Monday finalised the seat-sharing agreement between for the upcoming assembly elections in the union territory (UT) of Puducherry, as the filing of nominations ended. The pact was sealed following a meeting between Congress party's Puducherry unit chief V Vaithilingam and DMK leader S Jagathrakshakan.
Under the agreement, the Congress will contest on 16 seats, while the DMK will field candidates on 14 assembly constituencies. From its kitty, the DMK will allot seats to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), which are also members of the INDIA bloc.
"We will share seats among the alliance parties in the 14 seats allotted to DMK," news agency ANI quoted Jagathrakshakan as saying.
In the previous elections in 2021, the Congress had contested on 14 seats, but had managed to win just two of them. The DMK, meanwhile, contested on 13 seats, winning six of them. The All India NR Congress (AINRC), a member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), emerged as the single largest party, winning 10 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, had won six seats.
Sitting Congress MP to challenge CM Rangasamy in Thattanchavady
Earlier in the day, sitting Congress MP V Vaithilingam filed his nomination from the Thattanchavady assembly constituency, sitting the stage for a contest between him and incumbent Chief Minister N Rangasamy. Vaithilingam is a two-time former chief minister from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2008 to 2011.
The contest between him and Rangsamy shows that the Congress-DMK coalition is strongly looking to regain the lost ground of Puducherry. This has also set the stage for a rare contest between an incumbent CM and a former chief minister, which will make Thattanchavady the most-watched seat in Puducherry.
The polling for the 30-member Puducherry Legislative Assembly will be held in a single phase on April 9. The Election Commission of India (ECI) will conduct the counting of votes on May 4. This will be along with those in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam.
