Congress announces candidates for Puducherry assembly polls – read full list

NEW DELHI: Puducherry Congress president V Vaithilingam released the party’s list of 16 candidates for the Union territory’s upcoming assembly elections, scheduled for April 9.Vaithilingam, a two-term former chief minister of Puducherry, will contest from Thattanchavady, facing N Rangasamy, the AINRC founder-president and outgoing chief minister, who is seeking a second consecutive term and fifth overall. Other candidates named in the release include:The announcement comes after its seat-sharing agreement with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Under the arrangement, the Congress will contest 16 of the 30 seats, while the DMK will field candidates in the remaining 14.In the 2021 assembly elections, the AINRC emerged as the largest party with 10 seats, followed by DMK with six, while the BJP and Congress won six seats each. The BJP is an ally of AINRC, which was founded in February 2011 by Rangasamy after he left Congress.The Puducherry assembly has 33 seats. Of these, 30 members are elected, while the remaining three are nominated by the central government.