New Delhi/Puducherry, March 22 The BJP, an ally of AINRC in the Union Territory, announced M Arulmurugan as its candidate for the Karaikal (South) constituency in the April 9 Assembly elections on Sunday.
A press release issued by the BJP's Central office in New Delhi stated this.
The BJP secured 10 seats in the AINRC-led alliance, and the territorial Assembly has 30 seats.
The agreement was reached between the BJP and the AINRC when the regional party's leaders met Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
The AINRC has been allocated 16 seats, and the AIADMK and Lakshia Jananayaga katchi (LJK) have been allocated two seats each.
The first list released by the BJP on Saturday announced its candidates for nine out of the ten seats allocated to it.
Territorial Home Minister A Namassivayam is seeking re-election from Mannadipet as a BJP candidate. Speaker of the outgoing Assembly Embalam R Selvam is seeking re-election from Manavely.
A John Kumar of the BJP, a minister who was inducted into the AINRC-led NDA government in 2025 and remained without a portfolio, has been shifted from Kamaraj Nagar constituency to Mudaliarpet.
Sai J Saravanan Kumar of the BJP, a former minister in the present government, did not receive a ticket, and E Theepainthan, a nominated legislator in the outgoing Assembly, is being fielded as a BJP candidate in Oussudu. Saravanan Kumar's supporters staged a protest on Saturday, protesting against the denial of a ticket to him. They burnt their party identity cards in front of the BJP office here.
Similarly, former legislator A Baskar, who joined the BJP after quitting AIADMK a few months ago in the presence of Mansukh Mandaviya at Mudarliarpet, could not find his name in the candidates' list. His supporters also registered their protest.
Baskar is the elder brother of the AIADMK secretary here, A Anbalagan.