Puducherry Assembly elections: A Johnkumar and V Vaithilingam among dynastic candidates in the fray. india news
New Delhi: Many candidates with strong political family backgrounds will contest the upcoming Puducherry Assembly elections in various constituencies.
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A total of 291 candidates are in the fray in the elections to be held on April 9. Voting is held to elect 30 members of the 33-seat Puducherry Assembly, while the remaining three members are nominated by the Central Government.
Puducherry Assembly Elections 2021
major dynasty candidates
A Johnkumar: : BJP leader A Johnkumar, a minister in the outgoing N Rangasamy-led government and sitting MLA from Kamaraj Nagar, is contesting from Nelithop. He had earlier won the same seat as a Congress candidate in the 2016 elections. The constituency has been under the influence of the family, with their son Richards Johnkumar winning it on a BJP ticket in 2021.
dynastic candidate
V Vaithilingam: : A high-profile contest is set to take place in Thattanchavady, where former chief minister V Vaithilingam is contesting against outgoing chief minister N Rangasamy. Vaithilingam, son of V Venkatasubba Reddir, the second Chief Minister of Puducherry, is currently the President of the Puducherry Congress and a sitting Lok Sabha MP from the Union Territory’s only Lok Sabha seat, also known as Puducherry. The outcome of this contest is expected to have an impact on the race for the post of Chief Minister.
Vignesh Kannan: : In Raj Bhavan constituency, DMK candidate Vignesh Kannan is making his electoral debut. Son of former Puducherry minister P Kannan, he will take on Puducherry BJP chief VP Ramalingam in what is believed to be a close contest.
alliance
There will be a direct contest in the elections between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Congress-DMK alliance. In Puducherry, the NDA is led by Chief Minister N Rangasamy’s All India NR Congress, which will contest on 16 seats. The BJP has been given the remaining 14 constituencies, of which it has given two seats each to the AIADMK and businessman Jose Charles Martin’s newly formed Lachiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK).
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Congress and DMK will also contest the elections under the same arrangement of 16 and 14 seats respectively.