'26% votes vs 8% votes': Cong MP Tagore targets ally DMK; seeks leadership role for Puducherry unit in poll-bound UT

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Manickam Tagore has questioned why his party’s Puducherry unit should not lead the alliance with Tamil Nadu ally DMK in Puducherry, citing the Congress’ "higher vote share" in the poll-bound Union territory.Tagore pointed to the two parties’ performance in Puducherry’s lone Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 polls, noting that Congress’ V Narayanasamy was the runner-up with 26.35% of the votes, while DMK’s AMH Nazeem came fourth with 8.19%.“Will the party that got 8% of votes in the alliance be able to bear the leadership? Or will the party that got 26% be able to bear the leadership? Why should the Congress party in the alliance have to speak in a belittling way? This pattern continues It's not goods,” Tagore, the Virudhunagar MP, wrote on X on February 6. His reaction came shortly after DMK election in-charge for Puducherry and Lok Sabha MP S Jagathrakshakan visited the Union territory, skipping meetings with Congress leaders there. According to a source, the Congress was not included in initial talks with the DMK. Jagathrakshakan later told reporters that the final decision on alliance and seat-sharing would be made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and DMK president and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin.Assembly elections in Puducherry, along with Tamil Nadu, are expected in April. The Union territory is currently governed by the All India NR Congress-led NDA coalition.In the 2021 Puducherry assembly polls, the Congress contested 14 seats and won two, while the DMK contested 13 and emerged victorious in six.(With PTI inputs)