Puducherry Assembly election 2026: Congress releases list of 16 candidates in fray for April 9 polls in Puducherry

The Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee has released a list of 16 candidates for the April 9 elections to the 30-member Puducherry Assembly.

The candidates are TPR Selvam (Mannadipet); P. Karthikeyan (Ossudu); N. Raja Kumar (Indira Nagar); V. Vaithilingam (Thattanchavady); P. K. Devadoss (Kamaraj Nagar); M. Vaithianathan (Lawspet); G. Rajendiran (Muthialpet); D. Vizayalakshmi (Ariyankuppam); RKR Anantharaman (Manavely); M. Kandasamy (Embalam-SC); G. Anbarasan (Nettapakkam-SC); A. Dinesh Kumar (Nedungandu-SC); R. Kamalakannan (Thirunallar); A. M. Ranjith (Karaikal North); Ramesh Parambath (Mahe) and Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok (Yanam).

The Congress had faced much criticism for its inability to release the list of party nominees in fray even after the last day of filing of nomination papers ended on March 23. The last date for withdrawal of nominations was March 26 before 3 p.m. As part of the broad understanding in the INDIA bloc, the Congress has agreed to contest 16 seats, leaving 14 seats to the DMK. However, the Congress ended up with its candidates contesting in five seats allocated to the DMK.

Releasing the candidate list at a press conference, Member of Parliament and PCC chief V. Vaithilingam said the Congress would be contesting only in 16 seats allocated in the INDIA bloc. The Congress members who are contesting against the DMK would face disciplinary action. The party would not campaign for the candidates who are contesting against the DMK, he added.

Mr. Vaithilingam did not give any convincing reply on the party’s reasoning for initiating action against the members after form A and B (authorisation given by the party leadership to contest) were issued to them. The five candidates have already started their campaign seeking votes under the Congress symbol in their respective constituencies. “We will not campaign for the five candidates,” was Mr. Vaithilingam’s reply to repeated queries regarding the fiasco in the INDIA bloc.

Asked about the allegation levelled by the CPI against the Congress for the crisis in the INDIA bloc, the PCC leader said the Congress at no point held any talks with the Left parties. “The Left parties were only talking to the DMK. We did not have any seat-sharing talks with the CPI and the CPI (M),” he said.

Mr. Vaithilingam also dismissed the statement made by the AICC media spokesperson Dolly Sharma about the likelihood of ‘friendly fight’ among constituents of the INDIA bloc in Puducherry. When reporters pointed out the recent protest by a section of Congress workers over the issue of former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy not being given a ticket to contest the Assembly election, the PCC chief said, “the services of Mr. Narayanasamy would be utilised at a different level.” He said the DMK was not willing to accommodate Mr. Narayanasamy’s candidature in Nellithope constituency. 

Intervening on the subject, Mr. Narayanasamy said it was important for the Congress party to remain united during the time of elections here. “I was told by a DMK leader that my candidature was creating division in the INDIA bloc and hence I decided not to contest. For me, the party matters and not the individuals. Political leaders have to face such situations in their political career,” he said.