LS candidate to be announced after election schedule is notified: AINRC leader

AINRC leader and former Puducherry chief minister N Rangasamy Friday said his party, a part of the AIADMK-led alliance, would announce its candidate to contest the lone Lok Sabha seat here once the election schedule was notified. Speaking to reporters at his party office here, Rangasamy, also the leader of the opposition in the territorial assembly, said the AINRC got the lone seat to contest following a seat-sharing agreement reached with the AIADMK for the forthcoming elections.

The AINRC was returned to Lok Sabha in the last poll held in 2014 and it contested the election with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Referring to the dharna staged by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy (Congress) and his colleagues outside Raj Nivas for six days from February 13 against the Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, Rangasamy said the dharna was to gain political mileage particularly in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"It was a political drama the Congress ministers had staged against the Lieutenant Governor. It's really amusing that the Congress government here has not been able to deliver on its promises made to the people," he said. However, the former chief minister said he and his cabinet colleagues have been critical of the Lieutenant Governor for allegedly blocking implementation of various schemes.

He said the AINRC had always insisted statehood for Puducherry and had drawn the attention of the Centre in the past to the plea.

(With inputs from agencies.)