Puducherry elections 2021: Election Commission appoints four special observers

Puducherry, Mar 18: The Election Commission has appointed four special observers for Puducherry in connection with the April 6 Assembly polls.

Manjeet Singh, a retired IAS officer, has been apppointed as special general observer, Chief Electoral Officer of Puducherry Shurbir Singh said in a release Two retired IRS officers, Madhu Mahajan and BR Balakrishnan, have been appointed as special expenditure observers, while retired IPS officer Dharmendra Kumar chosen as the special police observer for Puducherry.

Meanwhile, the Congress on Tuesday announced names of candidates for 14 seats for the April 6 Puducherry Assembly elections but the list did not contain the name of party veteran and former chief minister V Narayanasamy.
narayanasamy

The Congress, which heads the Secular Democratic Alliance in the union territory, was allotted 15 of the 30 Assembly seats while its ally-the DMK- was earmarked 13 constituencies.

VCK and CPI, the other constituents of the alliance, have been earmarked one seat each. In a release, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced the list of candidates for 14 seats which significantly did not include the name of Narayanasamy, whose government fell last month after it lost the trust vote.

While the candidates for 14 constituencies were released, the nominee for Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, has not been announced. Former Industries Minister MOHF Shah Jahan has been fielded from Kamaraj Nagar.

There are 30 assembly constituencies spread over Puducherry (23), Karaikal (five) and Mahe and Yanam regions (one segment each).