Congress gets to contest from Puducherry

Despite the exit of PMK there is a silver lining for the Congress in Puducherry.

Unlike the new Jayalalithaa led alliance, the Congress - DMK front has less seat sharing hassles. So, the Congress gets to contest from one of its best-known strongholds - Puducherry.

With fewer allies, the Congress has regained the Puducherry ticket without a fight. It's perhaps the only happy fallout of the PMK crossing over to the Amma camp.

In the last election, there was a lot of heart burn among local Congressmen after the PMK had wrenched this seat away from them. They had even raised this issue with Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the former French colony last week.

`` We were not prepared to leave it. Last time, they asked us to give it to the PMK and they won with our support," said A.V. Subramanian, president, Puducherry Congress Committee.

In 11 General elections since 1967, the Congress has won this seat 8 times. The party also has a Government in the Union Territory. Now it's itching for revenge, as it's pitted against the PMK sitting MP

The constituency is in need of more funds and of course, there's that long pending demand for Statehood.

Puducherry has been a traditional Congress bastion for decades. The PMK's exit has cleared the decks for the Congress to once again contest this seat.