'AIADMK will form government in Pondy'

All the AIADMK candidates commenced campaign for the 2016 assembly poll in the Union territory of Puducherry following directions from party general secretary and Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on April 9.
Former Rajya Sabha MP P Kannan, who quit Congress and joined AIADMK, began his campaign along with his supporters from a temple in Raj Bhavan constituency on Saturday .He vowed to bring back AIADMK to power in Puducherry. AIADMK had formed government only twice in Puducherry, in 1974 and 1977. The government fell in 21 and 11 days respectively . Raj Bhavan will witness an interesting contest as Kannan, the mentor of sitting MLA K Lakshminarayanan (Congress), might face him in the ensuing polls. Congress is keen in fielding the three-time MLA Lakshminarayanan as its candidate.
Whenever Kannan parted ways with Congress, Lakshminarayanan followed him. Kannan joined erstwhile Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) floated by late G K Moopanar when Congress high command did not heed to the state unit's demand of not aligning with the AIADMK ahead of 1996 assembly polls. Kannan quit Congress twice and floated Puducherry Makkal Congress (ahead of 2001 polls) and Puducherry Munnetra Congress (ahead of 2006 polls).