CHENNAI: Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi president Thol Thirumavalavan on Tuesday announced that the party would contest independently in three constituencies in the upcoming Puducherry Assembly elections, citing delays and lack of clarity in seat allocation within the alliance.
In a statement, he said the VCK had been a part of the secular progressive alliance in Puducherry for several years and had contested previous Assembly elections as part of the alliance.
For the forthcoming election, the VCK had sought three constituencies. However, after prolonged delays, the seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and the DMK was finalised only after the completion of nomination filing.
The Congress, which is contesting the highest number of seats in the alliance, did not come forward to allocate constituencies to other partners.
He said the DMK had offered one constituency to the VCK, but even after the nomination process concluded, there was no clarity on which constituency would be allotted.
Further, he noted that the Congress had filed nominations in all constituencies where the VCK and CPI had fielded candidates. With no confirmation on seat allocation, VCK functionaries were subjected to unnecessary distress.
In this backdrop, the party has decided to contest independently in Oussudu, Nettapakkam, and Uzhavarkarai constituencies where it has already filed nominations.
The VCK will, however, extend support to secular progressive alliance candidates in the remaining constituencies where it is not contesting.
Thirumavalavan noted that in the 2021 election, the Congress had allotted only the Uzhavarkarai general constituency, which the party accepted to avoid any strain in the alliance.
However, it did not receive adequate cooperation from alliance partners, though it secured over 6,000 votes.