Former chief minister of Puducherry and veteran Congress leader V Narayanasamy said on Friday that both his party and the alliance partner, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), are responsible for the confusion over seat-sharing and dismissed it as a minor setback.
The DMK, however, did not accept this argument, stating that it was the Congress that committed a “big mistake” by fielding nominees in six additional segments.
The 78-year-old former Chief Minister asserted that talks should not have been allowed to prolong.
In an interview with PTI, Narayanasamy dismissed the AINRC-BJP government as a regime that completely “betrayed” the people of Puducherry.
“People desire change, and this was evident when we undertook a padayatra recently in Puducherry,” he said.
To a question, he added: “Confusion over seat-sharing among the alliance partners, the Congress and DMK, is only a small setback. People reject the BJP outright. Chief Minister N Rangasamy has become a stooge of the BJP, and I am confident people will reject him.”
In the wake of difficulties and obstacles during the protracted seat-sharing negotiations between his party and the DMK, the veteran leader said Congress nominees had filed nominations in seven constituencies: Nellithope, Kalapet, Raj Bhavan, Uzhavarkarai, Mangalam, Tirubhuvanai, and Karaikal South.
It was decided at the eleventh hour that the Congress would contest 16 seats, while the DMK was allotted 14 seats. The Dravidian party also agreed to share one seat with its ally, the VCK.
The 30-member Puducherry Assembly goes to polls on 9 April.
He said: “The Congress nominee who filed papers in Nellithope withdrew from the race as that constituency was allotted to the DMK. However, six other Congress candidates declined to withdraw, despite clear instructions. So, 16 are official Congress candidates; the six others are not official nominees.”
Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ve Vaithilingam has warned of tough action against these six.
When pointed out that the six nominees would still have the Congress party’s hand symbol in the official list of candidates, Narayanasamy said this could not be undone. “It is true that six more nominees, though declared unrecognised and unofficial by the party, will still have the hand symbol,” he noted.
Originally, the six were sponsored by the party. However, when asked to step aside, they refused to comply.
Asked if this situation was a setback, he said the Congress alone cannot be held responsible: “Both the Congress and DMK are responsible for this situation; it is the outcome of protracted talks. Talks should have been concluded quickly and not allowed to continue until the last minute when the time for withdrawal of candidature had closed.”
Leader of Opposition and DMK leader V Siva said it was the Congress party that committed a “big mistake; we are contesting only from segments assigned to us. We follow coalition ethics and are still working for the victory of the Congress in constituencies allotted to them.”
Asked whether he regretted not contesting the polls this time, Narayanasamy said: “I have no regrets. I am a party worker. I only said I would contest if given an opportunity. DMK insisted on having Nellithope, and I did not want to create trouble for the Congress-DMK alliance. Hence, I voluntarily moved out of the race and conveyed this to the party high command.”
Narayanasamy dismissed allegations that PCC chief Vaithilingam had denied him an opportunity. “I categorically reject, dismiss and rebut this allegation. The decision to opt out was mine; the party and Puducherry Pradesh Congress chief Vaithilingam did not deny me an opportunity.”
(With inputs from PTI)