President Droupadi Murmu appointed N Rangasamy chief minister of Puducherry, and the Lieutenant Governor invited him to form the government. The AINRC leader will begin a fifth term after the NDA's comfortable election victory.
The BJP-led NDA will retain Puducherry for a second straight term and may get 16-20 seats, exit polls predicted. The DMK-led opposition alliance, which is hoping to return to power after five years, is likely to win 6-12 seats.
He urged voters to support the party's "whistle" symbol in the Union Territory to usher in a "one-finger revolution", an apparent reference to a dialogue from one of his movies.
Seat-sharing delays between the Indian National Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have led to multiple "friendly contests" in Puducherry, with both parties fielding candidates in overlapping constituencies. The late pact has triggered on-ground rivalry, exposing coordination gaps within the INDIA bloc.
The Congress-DMK alliance in Puducherry faced a setback after the VCK decided to contest independently in three Assembly seats for the April 9 polls, while extending support to alliance candidates in the remaining constituencies.
The party said it will contest all the 30 constituencies on its own. TVK's list includes two women, who have been fielded from Mangalam and Kadirkamam in Puducherry region.
The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the upcoming Assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory, with voting in Puducherry set to take place on April 9 and the results to be declared on May 4.
Addressing a well-attended BJP rally in poll-bound Puducherry's Karaikal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, 'has started a new tradition of telling lies daily'.
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A day after Vijay's Puducherry rally, Charles Martin launched his new political party. He converted JCM Makkal Mandram into Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi. His entry is expected to alter alliance dynamics in the Union Territory.
The Election Commission published Puducherry's draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision. Sources said 110 new booths were added and 85,000 names removed. The total electorate now stands at 7.64 lakh.
