Nomination filing in Puducherry ended on Monday, but the INDIA alliance remains unsettled as both the Congress and the DMK submitted rival nomination papers in several constituencies.
After the DMK and Congress reached a seat-sharing understanding in Tamil Nadu, the parties announced that the alliance would continue in Puducherry as well. However, disagreements emerged over who would lead the alliance in the Union Territory, and DMK leaders reportedly did not go to the Congress office for talks, leading to discussions being held at a hotel.
The Congress initially indicated it would contest 17 of the 30 seats, with the remaining 13 to be shared by the DMK and other allies. The DMK did not accept this, and from March 18 both parties began filing nominations separately.
Following directions from their leaderships, a late-night understanding was reached the previous midnight: Congress 16 seats, DMK 12, and one seat each for the CPI and VCK. But talks on which party would get which constituencies broke down when the Congress sought seats contested by the DMK in the last election, prompting a DMK walkout.
On the final day of filing, DMK candidates filed nominations even in constituencies where they had not filed earlier, while Congress candidates also filed across all seats. Several Congress nominees reportedly attached the party’s authorised ‘A’ and ‘B’ forms, highlighting the depth of the confusion. Unless the leaderships reach a fresh agreement and nominations are withdrawn, the two parties could end up facing each other in the election.
