AINRC to contest Puducherry Lok Sabha seat in alliance with AIADMK

The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Thursday cobbled an alliance with All India NR Congress (AINRC) – a breakaway faction of the Congress party – to contest the ensuing Lok Sabha polls together. The AIADMK has allotted the Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency to AINRC, which won it in 2014 General Elections. AINRC’s R Radhakrishnan had defeated the Congress’ candidate V Narayanasamy, the then Union minister of state and the present Chief Minister of Puducherry.

Radhakrishnan got 2,55,826 votes while Narayanasamy managed to get only 1,94,972. AINRC had fought 2014 Lok Sabha Elections in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). AINRC was formed in the year 2011 by N Rangaswamy, the former chief minister of Puducherry.

Earlier on Tuesday, AIADMK announced an alliance with the BJP and the PMK for the Lok Sabha elections and described it as a ‘mega and victorious’ combine. As per the understandings reached separately, BJP and PMK would contest five and seven seats respectively out of the total 39 Lok Sabha constituencies at stake in the state. Along with 5 Lok Sabha seats, the Paatali Makkal Katchi will also get one Rajya Sabha seat this year.    

The alliance would be under AIADMK in Tamil Nadu while at the national level the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will steer the NDA coalition, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the BJP election-incharge for Tamil Nadu, said.

The PMK, which gave up its earlier policy of not aligning with either of the major Dravidian parties in the state, had held discreet talks with DMK as well, but in the end the AIADMK managed to woo it.

The coming Lok Sabha poll is the first major electoral battle for the AIADMK after the demise of its charismatic leader Jayalalithaa in December, 2016.

It must be noted that the AIADMK, with 37 seats, is the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha after the BJP and the Congress.

With PTI Inputs