Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay

New Delhi: Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay on Saturday criticized both the BJP and the Congress for failing to grant statehood to Puducherry despite ruling it at the Center for years. “Neither the Congress nor the BJP could grant statehood to Puducherry despite being in power at the Centre. The TVK government will make 100% efforts to achieve full statehood legally, free from the interference of the Lieutenant Governor,” Vijay said at an election rally in the Union Territory.Puducherry, a former French colony, officially merged with India in 1962 and was granted union territory status the following year. It is administered by a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Centre, while the elected regional government has limited powers – giving rise to a long-standing demand for full statehood.Meanwhile, the actor-politician also urged voters to support TVK’s “whistle” symbol to start a “one-finger revolution”, an apparent reference to a dialogue from one of his films.Vijay took a dig at both the major alliances in the region. The Tamil superstar, popularly known as “Thalapathy” (leader), said, “The ruling All India NR Congress (AINRC)-BJP alliance is a tired alliance. Like Tamil Nadu, the opposition DMK-Congress alliance in Puducherry is a confused alliance.”He also introduced TVK’s candidates and described them as leaders who “stand with the people” and outlined a series of welfare promises. These include:

The Puducherry Legislative Assembly has 33 members, of whom 30 are elected and three are nominated by the Central Government. Voting for the 30 seats will take place on April 9, with over 9.4 lakh voters deciding the fate of 294 candidates. Counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4 along with assembly election results in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, with voting taking place around the same period as Puducherry.