Puducherry Assembly eelction 2026: Signalling further disarray in INDIA bloc, VCK fields candidates in three seats

Plunging the INDIA bloc into further disarray with barely days to go for the April 9 Assembly elections, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) has announced its candidates for three seats — Ozhukarai, Oussudu (SC) and Nettapakkam (SC).

VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP, in a post on X, noted that even amid cadre unhappiness over the seat-sharing arrangement where the party was allotted only one seat from the DMK’s share of 14 seats, the Congress in Puducherry was refusing to withdraw its candidate from the same constituency.

In Puducherry, out of the 14 constituencies allocated to the DMK in the Congress-led alliance, the DMK had allotted the Ozhukarai constituency to the VCK. Now, in that constituency, the Congress has now fielded as its candidate a person who was until a couple of weeks ago affiliated with the BJP-RSS.

“As a result, it remains unclear whether the VCK has a constituency in the Congress alliance or not,” Mr. Thirumavalavan said.

The VCK leader said in a situation where the expiry of the deadline to withdraw nominations was set at 3 p.m. on Thursday (March 26, 2026), the Congress’s approach was not only affecting the VCK but was also putting the overall chances of victory for the entire alliance in question.

“Therefore, with no other option, we are announcing the official candidates for the three constituencies for which the VCK has filed nominations,” he said.

VCK’s three candidates

The VCK has fielded Pe. Ariyaputhri alias Arimaathamaathilan in Oussudu, P. Amuthavan in Nettapakkam and Pushpalatha in Ozhukarai.

Alleging the AINRC-BJP alliance has been destroying Puducherry over the past five years, Mr. Thirumavalavan called upon all secular-minded people to support the VCK candidates to defeat the BJP alliance and re-establish a government in Puducherry that upholds social harmony and prioritises development.