Seat-Sharing Standoff: Puducherry Politics in Turmoil

Veteran Congress leader V Narayanasamy has pointed fingers at both his party and its ally, the DMK, for the seat-sharing confusion that has arisen ahead of the Puducherry Assembly elections. In an interview, he downplayed the incident as a minor setback but heavily criticized the ruling AINRC-BJP government, accusing it of betraying the local populace.

Internal rifts surfaced when Congress candidates filed nominations in additional constituencies, leading to disagreements between the coalition partners. Congress and DMK had to reconfigure their seat-sharing agreement late in negotiations, with Congress conceding 16 seats and the DMK 14. Despite this, six Congress candidates refused to withdraw their nominations, creating further turmoil.

While explaining that both parties were responsible for the seat-sharing debacle, Narayanasamy expressed confidence that the people would reject the current government. He clarified his decision to step down from contesting in the upcoming elections, prioritizing the stability of the Congress-DMK alliance over personal aspirations.