Puducherry [India], March 28 (ANI): Ahead of the Puducherry Assembly polls, Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi founder Jose Charles Martin claimed that there is infighting between the opposition alliance, Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which gives the NDA alliance 'a complete edge' for a landslide victory.

Speaking to ANI on Friday, Martin, who is also a candidate from Kamaraj Nagar Constituency, expressed confidence that the NDA can win more than 25 seats in the upcoming 30 constituencies election.

'People have shown great interest. Right now, we can see that Congress and DMK have committed suicide in Puducherry, and they are almost dead. They are going to kill each other. They have done that successfully. There is a huge fight within them. CPI has walked out of the alliance. So, it is sure that the NDA has a complete edge. We can get more than 25 seats for sure,' he said.

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties in Puducherry earlier announced a seat-sharing agreement, with the All India N R Congress (AINRC) set to contest in 16 constituencies and the BJP on 10 seats. NDA partners AIADMK and Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK) will also contest on two seats each.

Meanwhile, Puducherry Congress president V Vaithilingam released the party's list of 16 candidates, following a seat-sharing agreement finalised between the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) earlier, under which Congress will contest 16 of the 30 seats, while the DMK will contest the remaining 14 constituencies.

Additionally, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has also released the list of 30 candidates for the upcoming 2026 Puducherry Legislative Assembly General Election.

Voting in Puducherry will take place on April 9. Polling in West Bengal will be conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The counting of votes will be held on May 4, the ECI announced.

The current term of the 30-member Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory is set to expire on June 15.

In the 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, AINRC emerged as the largest party with 10 seats, followed by DMK with six seats, while BJP and Congress won six seats each. The voter turnout was recorded at 84.8 per cent.

While in the 2016 elections, Congress had secured a majority with 15 seats, AINRC won eight seats, AIADMK bagged four seats, and DMK got two seats, with voter turnout at 83.6 per cent.(ANI)