AINRC, BJP finalise seat sharing for Puducherry Assembly polls

Puduchery: The ruling AINRC and BJP-AIADMK combine on Friday reached an agreement for the Assembly polls in the union territory, where the AINRC will contest 16 seats.

Puducherry Chief Minister and AINRC leader N Rangasamy held talks with BJP leader and Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at a private hotel here. Accordingly, the BJP will contest the remaining 14 seats.

The BJP, from its kitty, has allocated two seats each for AIADMK and the Lakshia Jananayaga Katchi (LJK) out of the 14 seats as per the accord, AINRC sources said.

Although Rangasamy maintained all along that the LJK headed by Jose Charles Matin should not be accommodated in the NDA headed by AINRC, the talks with the central minister ended in the chief minister agreeing to include the LJK in the front.

In the 2021 Assembly election, the AINRC contested 16 seats and won 10. The BJP contested in 9 seats and won 6. The AIADMK contested five and drew a blank.

Single phase polling for 30 seats in the union territory is scheduled on April 9.