Ex-CM is Congress challenger in Puducherry
By WBRi IBNS Newswire on 10 April 2011
Puducherry, Apr 10 (IBNS) It is Congress versus a former Congress chief minister in Puducherry, one of the most low-key regions on the radar of national media going to polls on April 13.
While West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala followed by Assam dominate the national press in coverage of the assembly polls in four states the one union territory of Puducherry, the last one draws least attention.
In Puducherry, ruled by the Congress, the fight is between the ruling party and the alliance of AIADMK with All India N. R Congress (AINRC).
AINRC is floated by former Congress chief minister N Rangasamy that promises to "ensure an excellent government and full statehood for the Union Territory of Puducherry."
While the Congress is aiming to return to power for the third consecutive term in the 30-member Legislative Assembly, the opposition is leaving no stone unturned to challenge them.
Rangasamy has been projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the AIADMK-AINRC combine.
Claiming that there would be no discrimination for Puducherry if they come to power, as against the theory that a small union territory like Puducherry will benefit if governed by the party at the centre, the N.R. Congress with AIADMK is taking on the Congress on the issue of 2G scam and price rise.
Congress and its chief minister V Vaithilingam on the other hand said Rangasamy during his regime had failed to procure allotted funds from the centre owing to lack of planning and initiative.
Congress also tom-toms the improved law and order situation in Puducherry in the past years.
Congress is fighting the polls in alliance with the DMK, PMK and VCK parties.
PMK and VCK represent the Vanniyars and the Scheduled Castes while the DMK has a traditional vote bank in the UT.
The Congress also is wooing voters with the promise of free mobile phones, refrigerator or water purifier to all families below the poverty line (BPL). Also in the list of freebies are laptops and cots besides monitory allowances.
Interestingly, the challenger to the Congress, former chief minister N Rangasamy, is famous for distributing freebies during his time.
According to political analysts, since the constituencies are smaller in size, the personal rapport of the candidates with their voters and their image matter a lot in winning the polls.
Some of the high-profile candidates in this election are Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, his ministerial colleagues and Assembly speaker R Radhakrishnan from the ruling side.
No single party ever got more than 16 seats in the UT since 1964 and hence the role of Independents is important too here.
Puducherry has a total electorate of 8.05 lakh.
A total of 187 candidates are in the fray this time. Of them 162 are in Puducherry district which consists of Puducherry, Mahe and Yanam. The rest are in Karaikal district.
Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) is a former French colony which now consists of four non-contiguous enclaves and named for the largest (Puducherry).
Puducherry, which means "New village" , is known as the French Riviera of the East. It is also famous for the Sri Aurobindo Ashram where people across India and abroad visit .
The ashram was set up by Sri Aurobindo or Aurobindo Ghose, an Indian nationalist, freedom fighter and philosopher in 1926.
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