{"id":9092,"date":"2026-04-04T20:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=9092"},"modified":"2026-04-04T20:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:00:43","slug":"130013956-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.sheep-mine.ts.net\/?p=9092","title":{"rendered":"Puducherry elections: 23% of candidates face criminal cases, TVK leads with 10 names | India News – The Times of India"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Puducherry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

NEW DELHI: Out of 294 candidates contesting the upcoming Puducherry assembly elections, 66 contestants (23%) have declared criminal cases, including 38 (13%) facing serious charges, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). <\/p>\n

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\"Criminal<\/p>\n

Criminal facing criminal cases in Puducherry<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The analysis is based on affidavits filed by the candidates with the Election Commission of India<\/a> (ECI), a mandatory disclosure required for contesting an election. <\/p>\n

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Watch<\/span><\/p>\n

Puducherry Elections 2026: TVK To Contest Solo, BJP and AINRC Alliance Finalises Seat-Sharing<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In the 2021 Puducherry assembly elections, 323 candidates contested, of whom 54 (17%) had declared criminal cases. <\/p>\n

Party-wise break-up of candidates with criminal cases<\/keyword><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

The newly formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor-politician Vijay, has fielded 28 candidates, of whom 10\u2014the highest among political parties\u2014face criminal charges. Among these, five have declared serious charges, and five have other criminal cases.Among other major parties, 3 of 21 Congress nominees, 4 of 16 from the ruling All India NR Congress (AINRC), 6 of 12 from the DMK, and 5 of 10 from the BJP have declared criminal cases in their affidavits. The Congress initially announced all 30 candidates after failing to reach an agreement with its ally, the DMK. The two parties finalised the seat-sharing deal on the last day of nomination filing, with Congress set to contest 16 seats and the DMK 14.Meanwhile, there are 117 independents, of whom 19 face criminal cases, including 11 with serious charges.The 294 candidates include 34 from national parties, 63 from state parties, 80 from registered unrecognised parties, and the independents.<\/p>\n

\u2018Red alert\u2019 constituencies<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

According to the ADR report, Puducherry has 11 \u201cred alert\u201d assembly constituencies\u2014seats with at least three candidates facing criminal cases. Of these, eight are in the Puducherry district, and three are in the Karaikal district.<\/p>\n

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