TRIANGULAR FIGHT AS CONG VOWS TO RETURN, BJP, AINRC EYE A HEADWAY

{ PUDUCHERRY }

CHENNAI: Puducherry, which was brought under the President’s Rule on February 25, will go to polls in a single phase on April 6 — the same day as neighbouring Tamil Nadu. “Most of the political parties wanted the elections to be conducted along with Tamil Nadu,” said chief election commissioner Sunil Arora. “Both sides probably felt unsavoury elements coming from this side or that side.”

The Puducherry Assembly has a total of 33 seats, of which five are reserved and three members are nominated by the Union government through the lieutenant governor. A total of 30 members of the Assembly are elected directly by the voters. Narayanasamy resigned on February 22, ahead of a floor test following the resignations of five Congress and one Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislators. The elections will see a bitter three-cornered battle among the Congress, the BJP and the its ally All India NR Congress, led by former chief minister N Rangasamy .