All barring AINRC hail announcement

Ruling party had previously attempted to stop the elections when a party member filed a writ in the High Court
All barring AINRC hail announcement

Barring the ruling AINRC, almost all political parties in the Union Territory have welcomed the State Election Commission’s announcement of holding the civic polls for the Union Territory on January 4, 8 and 10.

AIADMK state secretary and MLA A Anbazhagan said it would prove to be a major defeat for Chief Minister N Rangasamy who was not in favour of conducting the polls. His AINRC party had previously attempted to stop the elections when a party member filed a writ in the High Court objecting to a ‘trivial’ issue. Already, the people of the Union Territory were dissatisfied with his administration and now, it would be reflected even in the local body elections.

The AIADMK leader said his party was preparing for the polls for the past three months and claimed that AIADMK would be the most-favoured party as it had got closer to people by resolving their issues and they saw the party as an entity they could count on.

The DMK also welcomed the announcement. Dr MAS Subramanian, Puducherry unit President, told Express, “We will be meeting our party leader Kalaignar and deciding whether the party should go it alone or enter into an alliance,” said Subramanian.

The Congress, on the other hand, had been meticulously preparing for the local body polls which it swept in 2006. The party had been making all moves to gain political mileage by highlighting the lapses in the AINRC government.

Though other political parties had expressed reservations with regard to the disproportionate size of the wards or with regard to the mode of reservations, the Congress had always maintained that they were in favour of the elections.

“We do not want the poll to be postponed on these grounds,“ president of Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee, A V Subramanian, and Leader of Opposition, V Vaithilingam, told a press conference recently.

It was after 38 years that the Union Territory organised local body polls in 2006, and that too based on the directions of the Madras High Court.

This time too, the matter is in court after the local unit of the CPM filed a plea in this regard. Recently, the High Court gave directions to take necessary steps for the conduct of the elections.

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