Why did the AINRC abandon its preconditions to seal seat sharing deal, asks former MP

The AINRC’s quiet abandonment of its two conditions, most importantly securing a commitment for Puducherry’s Statehood from the NDA leadership, for finalising the seat-sharing agreement in the alliance was concerning, M. Ramadass, former MP and founder president of the Puducherry Maanila Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam said.

In a statment, Mr. Ramadass said it was more or less well known that Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, AINRC founder, had placed two specific and important conditions before entering into an electoral understanding—one for a guarantee on the long-pending and emotionally significant demand for Statehood for Puducherry, and the other against the inclusion of Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi (LJK) in the alliance.