The bout for the lone lok Sabha constituency from the Union Territory of Puducherry has become the cynosure of all eyes as two candidates fight it out here in the name of Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
While candidates in all constituencies elsewhere in the country are fighting for and against the candidature of Modi, the main fight in Puducherry is between the BJP supported R Radhakrishnan (All India N Rangaswamy Congress) and RKR Anandharaman of the PMK who is supported by the DMDK, MDMK and all remaining constituents of the NDA except the BJP.
The failure of the NDA leadership to sort out the claim by the PMK for the lone lS seat in Puducherry has given rise to this bizarre situation. While there is no dearth of political parties in the country spitting venom at the mention of Modi’s name, here are the two candidates who are staging a spirited fight for making Modi the Prime Minister.
The All India NR Congress, a breakaway faction of the Indian National Congress led by Chief Minister N Rangaswamy fielded Radhakrishnan, ex-Speaker of the Assembly as the party’s candidate and managed to get the support of the BJP. But the PMK, which had announced the name of Anandharaman in October 2013 itself as its candidate, refused to give way to Radhakrishnan. This led to a situation when Vijayakanth, a bête noir of Dr Ramadoss, declared support to the PMK candidate. Vaiko’s MDMK and other fringe groups too joined the DMDK to support the PMK.
The two warring groups move around through the boulevards and alleys in Puducherry extolling the virtues of Narendra Modi and the failure of the sitting MP V Narayanasamy, the Minister of State in PMO, to take care of the constituency. What unifies the warring factions is their common love for Modi.
Both the AINRC and the PMK candidates point out that Narayanasamy, rated as one of the powerful Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers, is known only for his huge air travel bills which were settled by the exchequer. Narayanasamy, described as ‘lion of the Red Fort’ by his followers in unperturbed. “I will win easily here. The margin of victory will be bigger than that in 2009,” Narayanasamy told The Pioneer.
Caste and communities are important in this constituency where people in all the Assembly constituencies know each other. In addition to the three main protagonists, the AIADMK, the DMK and the CPI too have fielded candidates here. But their presence and campaign has been dwarfed by the three major players. The 9,01,357 strong electorate of Puducherry is spread across the three States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala making it literally impossible for the candidates to tour all the 30 Assembly constituencies.