New Delhi, March 21 The BJP on Saturday announced the names of nine candidates for the April 9 Assembly elections in Puducherry, fielding P M L Kalyanasundaram from Kalapet and G N S Rajasekaran from Thirunallar.
According to the list, A Namassivayam will contest from Mannadipet, V P Ramalingame from Rajbhavan, and A Johnkumar from Mudaliarpet.
Embalam R Selvam will contest from Manavely, T K S M Meenatchisundaram from Neravy T R Pattinam, and A Dineshan from Mahe.
E Theeppainthan will seek election from Oussudu, a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes.
The ruling AINRC and the BJP-AIADMK combine reached an agreement on Friday for the Assembly elections in the Union territory, where the AINRC will contest 16 seats, and the BJP will contest the remaining 14 seats.
The arrangements were finalized after Puducherry Chief Minister and AINRC leader N Rangasamy held talks with BJP leader and Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at a private hotel here on Friday.
The BJP has allocated two seats each to the AIADMK and the Lakshia Jananayaga Katchi (LJK), according to AINRC sources.
Although Rangasamy had maintained that the LJK, headed by Jose Charles Matin, should not be included in the NDA led by the AINRC, the talks with the Central Minister ended with the Chief Minister agreeing to include the LJK in the front.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the AINRC contested 16 seats and won 10, the BJP contested nine seats and won six, while the AIADMK contested five and drew a blank.
The single-phase polling for 30 seats will be held on April 9, and the results will be declared on May 4.