Less than two weeks before the Puducherry Assembly elections on April 9, last-minute confusion has continued in the Congress-led alliance, with party rebels contesting six seats allotted to the DMK.
Congress leaders in the six constituencies - Kalapet, Raj Bhavan, Thirubuvanai, Karaikal South, Mangalam and Ozhukarai - have refused to withdraw their nominations, setting up a straight fight with allies DMK and VCK. Pulling up the leaders, the Puducherry unit of the Congress has said the leaders are prohibited from using the party name and flag, and warned them of strict action.
According to the seat-sharing agreement, the Congress was supposed to contest 16 of Puducherry's 30 constituencies and the DMK the remaining 14. Of these, the DMK allotted the Ozhukarai seat to the VCK.
VCK chief Thirumavalvan blamed the Congress for confusion between the allies and announced that his party will contest independently in two constituencies - Nettapakkam and Ossudu - while also contesting from Ozhukarai as part of the alliance, called the Secular Progressive Alliance, with the DMK and the Congress.
Thirumavalavan explained that the move was a response to prolonged negotiations that continued till the last minute and led to smaller allies being sidelined. "To protect VCK's vote base and electoral interests, we must field our candidates here," he said, while pledging full support to the alliance elsewhere.
Other opposition parties have also expressed their unhappiness with the Congress, claiming it has made another victory easy for the ruling coalition, led by Chief Minister N Rangaswamy's All India NR Congress (AINRC), by delaying the seat-sharing deal.
CPM Leader Balakrishnan said the Congress and the DMK weakened the Secular Progressive Alliance.
"The AINRC-BJP government is facing huge anti-incumbency because of the corruption charges. There was a big momentum in favour of the INDIA bloc. However, the Congress and the DMK failed to put up a united front against the government," Balakrishnan said.
