The Puducherry unit of the DMK has put up a strong defence for its demand to field a party candidate from the lone Lok Sabha seat of the Union Territory, as part of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
At DMK’s internal consultation before talks on seat sharing arrangements are made with alliance partners, top DMK leaders, including Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin, interacted with Puducherry leaders at Anna Arivalayam on Monday, February 5, 2024.
Puducherry Opposition leader and DMK convenor R. Siva, who led the Puducherry delegation, told The Hindu they had conveyed to party leadership the “desire of cadres” to contest from the lone seat in the U.T.
“In the past, we made adjustments to give the seat to Congress. This time the scenario is different as the Congress fared very badly in the 2021 Assembly elections. They won just two seats. Several Congress leaders have migrated to other parties. On the other hand, the DMK performed better in all the seats it contested. So, the cadres want to field our own candidate in this election,” he said.
Mr. Siva said the leaders listened to the views of cadres and asked them to strengthen the organisational set-up in all 30 constituencies.
“Ultimately, our contesting from Puducherry will be decided by the leadership. We have expressed our strong desire to contest from Puducherry. We have also complained to the leadership about the style of functioning of Congress leaders in Puducherry. The Congress has often worked against the interest of the alliance in Puducherry,” Mr. Siva added.
The last time the DMK contested from Puducherry was in 1996 Parliamentary elections, he pointed out..
Apart from Mr .Siva, DMK legislators and former Minister S. P. Sivakumar were present at the Anna Arivalayam meeting.
