Down to the wire: Congress, DMK reach accord on Puducherry

PUDUCHERRY: The wrangling with the INDIA bloc between the Congress and DMK came to an end on Monday, the last day of nominations, with the partners reaching an accord for the upcoming Assembly polls in the union territory, where the Congress will contest 16 seats while the DMK will face the elections from the remaining 14 seats. From its kitty, the DMK will allocate seats to the smaller allies, VCK and CPI.

The deal was announced by DMK delegate and Lok Sabha member S Jagathratchagan and Puducherry PCC president V Vaithilingam at a press conference here on Monday.

In the 2021 Assembly election, the Congress contested 14 seats and won two. The DMK contested 13 seats and won 6.

The efforts to finalise the deal gathered pace, as Monday was the last day for filing of nominations. With the talks remaining deadlocked, both partners had filed candidates for all 30 seats. Now that an agreement has been reached, the allies have time till March 26, the last date for withdrawal of nominations, to identify seats where their candidates would contest.

Meanwhile, PCC president V Vaithilingam, who is also the MP from the union territory, filed his nomination for the Thattanchavady constituency, setting the stage for a direct confrontation with incumbent Chief Minister and AINRC leader N Rangasamy.

Rangasamy has been defending Thattanchavady constituency, which has been his "pocket borough" since his maiden victory in 1990. On the other hand, Vaithilingam is a two-time CM (from 1991 to 1996 and 2008 to 2011), and his entry signals the Congress-DMK alliance's intent to reclaim the ground, said alliance leaders.