PUDUCHERRY: As many as 121 candidates belonging to different political parties and Independents on Wednesday filed nominations for the April 6 poll in Puducherry, raising the total number of those who have filed papers so far to 162.
Among those who filed the papers were founder-leader of AINRC and Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing territorial Assembly N Rangasamy.
He is seeking election from the lone segment in Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry, in Andhra Pradesh.
Yanam is some 800 km away from Puducherry, the capital of the Union Territory.
Rangasamy, former Chief Minister of the Union Territory, had filed nomination on Monday seeking election from Thattanchavady segment and has now filed papers for election from Yanam too.
Yanam has been a citadel of former Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao (Congress) who emerged victorious in all the polls held since 1996.
Rao, however, quit the Minister’s post and also that of an MLA in February and stayed away from poll battle.
He had announced after resigning the posts that the AINRC founder would be the candidate in Yanam.
The PCC president A V Subramanian expelled Rao from the party for his alleged anti-party activities.
Rao accompanied Rangasamy when he filed nominations in Yanam.
Former PWD Minister A Namassivayam (BJP) filed nomination seeking election from Mannadipet segment on a BJP ticket.
Puducherry PCC president A V Subramanian, who is an ex- Speaker filed nomination in Karaikal (North),his home constituency.
CPI, a constituent of the Congress-led Secular Democratic Alliance, has fielded K Sedhu alias Sedhu Selvam and he filed the nomination seeking election from Thattanchavady constituency.
All the five candidates (four sitting members and one ex- MLA) of the AIADMK- A Anbalagan, his brother A Baskar, Vayyapuri Manikandan and K A U Asana from Karaikal South filed the nominations seeking election from Uppalam, Mudaliarpet, Muthialpet and Karaikal south constituencies respectively.
An ex-MLA of the AIADMK Om Sakthi Segar, who has been fielded in Orleanpet contrary to his expectation that he would be fielded in Nellithope, also filed nomination.
The last day to file nomination is March 19.
Source: Press Trust of India
