Puducherry Assembly elections: Johnkumar, V Vaithilingam among dynasty candidates locked in race

New Delhi: The upcoming Puducherry Assembly elections will have several candidates with strong political family backgrounds contesting in various constituencies.

A total of 291 candidates are participating in the April 9 election. The Puducherry Legislative Assembly has a total of 33 seats, of which 30 members will be elected through polls and the remaining three members will be nominated by the central government.

Famous Dynasty Candidates

John Kumar: BJP leader A Johnkumar, a minister in the outgoing N Rangasamy-led government and the sitting MP from Kamaraj Nagar, is contesting from Nellithope. He had previously won the same seat as a congressional candidate in the 2016 elections. The constituency still has family influence, with his son Richards Johnkumar winning the constituency in 2021 on a BJP ticket.

V Vatilingam: A high-profile contest will be held in Thattanchavady between former chief minister V Vaithilingam and outgoing chief minister N Rangasamy. Vaithilingam is the son of Puducherry second chief minister V Venkatasubba Reddiar, the current Congress Party president in Puducherry and the current Lok Sabha member of the Union Territory’s only Lok Sabha seat, also known as Puducherry. The outcome of this race is expected to have an impact on the chief ministerial race.

Vignesh Kannan: In the Raj Bhavan constituency, DMK candidate Vignesh Kannan made his election debut. The son of former Puducherry minister P Kannan, he will be locked in a high-profile contest against Puducherry BJP chief vice-president Ramalingam.

alliance

The election will be a direct clash between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition Congress-DMK alliance. The NDA in Puducherry is led by the All India NR Congress, led by Chief Minister N Rangasamy, and the party will contest 16 seats. The BJP won the remaining 14 constituencies, two of which went to the AIADMK and businessman Jose Charles Martin’s newly formed Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK).

Congress and DMK will also contest 16 and 14 seats respectively under a similar arrangement.