{"id":8952,"date":"2026-04-04T08:30:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=8952"},"modified":"2026-04-04T08:30:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:30:40","slug":"130015167-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=8952","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Didn\u2019t grant statehood to Puducherry&#8217;: Vijay slams BJP, Congress ahead of polls | India News &#8211; The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-130015609,imgsize-162358,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/dmk-cong-39confused-alliance39-nr-cong-bjp-39exhausted-one39-says-tvk-chief-vijay-in-puducherry.jpg\" alt=\"'Didn\u2019t grant statehood to Puducherry': Vijay slams BJP, Congress ahead of polls\" title=\"Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay\">Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay on Saturday criticised both the BJP and Congress for failing to grant statehood to Puducherry despite ruling at the Centre for years.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>\u201cNeither Congress nor BJP could give statehood to Puducherry despite holding power at the Centre. A TVK government will make a 100% effort to secure full statehood legally, free from interference by the lieutenant governor,\u201d Vijay said at an election rally in the poll-bound Union territory.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>Puducherry, a former French colony, officially merged with India in 1962 and was granted Union territory status the following year. <!-- -->It is administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the President on the Centre\u2019s recommendation, while the elected regional government has limited powers\u2014fuelling a long-standing demand for full statehood.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/> <\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"How then-CM Narayanasamy vs then-LG Kiran Bedi clashed in Puducherry\" msid=\"130015890\" width=\"\" title=\"How then-CM Narayanasamy vs then-LG Kiran Bedi clashed in Puducherry\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" imgsize=\"\" resizemode=\"4\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-130015890\/how-then-cm-narayanasamy-vs-then-lg-kiran-bedi-clashed-in-puducherry.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>How then-CM Narayanasamy vs then-LG Kiran Bedi clashed in Puducherry<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>Meanwhile, the actor-politician also urged voters to support TVK\u2019s \u201cwhistle\u201d symbol to usher in a \u201cone-finger revolution,\u201d an apparent reference to a dialogue from one of his films.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>Vijay took a swipe at both major alliances in the region. \u201cThe ruling All India NR Congress (AINRC)-BJP combine is an exhausted alliance. Just like in Tamil Nadu, the opposition DMK-Congress alliance in Puducherry is a confused one,\u201d the Tamil superstar, popularly known as \u201cThalapathy&#8221; (leader), added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/> <\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component iIpbx undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"TVK SWOT\" msid=\"130015861\" width=\"\" title=\"TVK SWOT\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" imgsize=\"\" resizemode=\"4\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-130015861\/tvk-swot.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>TVK SWOT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>He also introduced TVK\u2019s candidates, describing them as leaders who \u201cstand with the people,\u201d and outlined a series of welfare promises. These include:<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"cdatainfo   id-r-component \" data-pos=\"24\">\n<ul>\n<li>Conducting local body elections within six months of assuming power<\/li>\n<li>Rs 25 lakh medical insurance to every family<\/li>\n<li>200 units of free electricity to those below the poverty line<\/li>\n<li>Establishing the Puducherry University of Applied Sciences and Arts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The party, launched in February 2024, is contesting 28 of the 30 constituencies, with ally Neyam Makkal Kazhagam (NMK) set to field candidates in the remaining two seats.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>The Puducherry legislative assembly has 33 members, of which 30 are elected and three are nominated by the Union government. Voting for the 30 seats will be held on April 9, with over 9.4 lakh voters set to decide the fate of 294 candidates. Counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, alongside assembly election results in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, which are voting around the same period as Puducherry.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/><\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/didnt-grant-statehood-to-puducherry-vijay-slams-bjp-congress-ahead-of-polls\/articleshow\/130015167.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay NEW DELHI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22581,724,22582,723,719,720,721,22579,13479,722,22580],"class_list":["post-8952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bjp-congress-criticism","tag-breaking-news","tag-election-rally-puducherry","tag-google-news","tag-india","tag-india-news","tag-india-news-today","tag-puducherry-statehood","tag-tamilaga-vettri-kazhagam","tag-today-news","tag-vijay-tvk-chief"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}