424 candidates enter fray in Puducherry

Chief Minister N Rangasamy, four of his cabinet colleagues and Assembly Speaker V Sabapathy were among those who filed nominations on the last day today for the May 16 elections to the 30-member Union Territory assembly, taking the total number of candidates to 424. With the filing of the nominations by 184 candidates in all the four regions of Puducherry,Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam today, the total nominations filed for the polls is 424, election department officials said.
Scrutiny of nominations is scheduled for tomorrow.
The ruling AINRC is contesting the polls on its own.
Similarly the AIADMK is also going solo in the elections while the Congress and DMK are facing the polls in alliance.

While Congress has fielded candidates in 21 segments, the DMK in the remaining nine seats.
Former Health Minister P Kannan who joined the AIADMK on February 14 this year is among the AIADMK nominees and is seeking election from Raj Bhavan constituency.
Three sitting MLAs -- M Vaithianathan, P Karthikeyan and P M L Kalyanasundaram -- who were denied tickets by AINRC, have jumped into the fray as independents in their respective constituencies of Lawspet, Oussudu (Reserved) and Kalapet.