In Puducherry, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the All India N R Congress (AINRC), has averted a potential split and finalised its seat-sharing arrangement on Friday ahead of the April 9 polls.
As per the agreement, the All India N R Congress will contest 16 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will field candidates in 10 seats. Alliance partners All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK) have been allotted two seats each.
The LJK is led by Jose Charles Martin, son of lottery king Santiago Martin.
Earlier, there were speculations that Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who leads the AINRC, would walkout of the alliance after he boycotted a meeting of the alliance convened by the BJP on Tuesday. He also unilaterally announced a candidate for the Yanam constituency, naming former Minister Malladi Krishna Rao as the party’s nominee even before seat-sharing discussions were finalised.
Rangasamy on Friday confirmed that the alliance would continue after meeting Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The BJP also shared the development on social media, expressing confidence that the NDA would retain power in the Union Territory.
Meanwhile, Rangasamy filed his nomination papers to contest from two constituencies--Thattanchavady and Mangalam.
In the 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, AINRC emerged as the largest party with 10 seats, followed by DMK with six seats, while BJP and Congress won six seats each. The voter turnout was recorded at 84.8 per cent.
While in the 2016 elections, Congress had secured a majority with 15 seats, AINRC won eight seats, AIADMK bagged four seats, and DMK got two seats, with voter turnout at 83.6 per cent.
(With inputs from ANI)