Congress to Back TVK in Puducherry By-Election, Criticizes DMK Over Lok Sabha Defeat

PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president and former Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, MP, on Tuesday said the Congress would support the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) if the party decides to contest the forthcoming by-election in the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency. Addressing reporters, Vaithilingam said the Congress-TVK alliance in Puducherry remains intact and that a decision on whether the Congress would field its own candidate in the by-election would be taken by the party leadership. He, however, ruled out any friendly contest between alliance partners and indicated that the Congress would back TVK if it entered the fray. Vaithilingam, who lost the election from the constituency, also announced that he would not contest again from the Thattanchavady constituency The Congress leader also launched a sharp attack on the DMK over the defeat of the INDIA bloc in the recent Lok Sabha election in Puducherry. He said the DMK, which led the alliance in the Union Territory, must take responsibility for the loss. According to him, the DMK had misjudged TVK's electoral strength, conducted alliance negotiations unilaterally and failed to effectively coordinate with its partners. He claimed that the Congress had performed well in constituencies where seat-sharing arrangements were amicably settled and asserted that anti-incumbency against the DMK contributed to the alliance's defeat.