PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, MP, on Tuesday said the Congress would support the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) if the party decides to contest the forthcoming by-election in the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency.
Addressing reporters, Vaithilingam said the Congress-TVK alliance in Puducherry remains intact and that a decision on whether the Congress would field its own candidate in the by-election would be taken by the party leadership.
He, however, ruled out any friendly contest between alliance partners and indicated that the Congress would back TVK if it entered the fray. Vaithilingam, who lost the election from the constituency, also announced that he would not contest again from the Thattanchavady constituency
The Congress leader also launched a sharp attack on the DMK over the defeat of the INDIA bloc in the recent Lok Sabha election in Puducherry. He said the DMK, which led the alliance in the Union Territory, must take responsibility for the loss.
According to him, the DMK had misjudged TVK's electoral strength, conducted alliance negotiations unilaterally and failed to effectively coordinate with its partners. He claimed that the Congress had performed well in constituencies where seat-sharing arrangements were amicably settled and asserted that anti-incumbency against the DMK contributed to the alliance's defeat.
Vaithilingam accused the Centre of creating confusion among students through changes in the CBSE examination and administrative systems. He alleged that repeated irregularities in the NEET examination had eroded students' confidence and demanded corrective action from the Union Government.
He also criticised the Puducherry Government's implementation of the three-language policy in schools, alleging that the administration had ignored the preference of many students for French and failed to adequately address their concerns.
Questioning recent remarks by Union Minister L. Murugan that the Centre had provided Rs 15,000 crore to Puducherry over the past five years, Vaithilingam sought an explanation from the government on how the funds had been utilised. He pointed out that Chief Minister Rangasamy had repeatedly stated during the same period that the Union Territory had not received adequate financial assistance from the Centre.
Alleging that the Chief Minister was running the administration in an authoritarian manner, Vaithilingam said governance in Puducherry appeared to be centred around a single individual rather than functioning through the Cabinet and Legislative Assembly system.