In poll-bound Puducherry, PM Modi to address rally on March 30; drones, UAVs banned

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address massive political rallies in the poll-bound region of Puducherry on Tuesday, amid the second Covid-19 wave that India has witnessed. This will be PM Modi's second visit to Puducherry, the first being on February 25 where he addressed a gathering here. On Tuesday, he will speak at the rally in the Armed Forces Tribunal, Thidal.

BJP's manifesto assures masses of jobs, free vehicles

Recently, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its manifesto for Puducherry in which it assured financial assistance of Rs 6,000 per year for all fishermen, over 2.5 lakh new jobs for youth, and free bikes for girls students pursuing their higher education if elected to power.

Security tightened ahead of PM's visit, section 144 in place

Ahead of PM Modi's visit, flying drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been banned in Puducherry from March 29-30, to tighten the security. An order to this effect was also issued by the District Magistrate Purva Garg on Monday, PTI reported. Garg, through a press release, conveyed that an order under section 144 CrPc has been clamped in the whole of the Puducherry region to prohibit the flying of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles.

Parties and alliances in Puducherry poll battle

The BJP has fielded its nine candidates against the opposition Congress and DMK in Puducherry. The key candidates are V Saminathan who will contest from Lawspet; A Namassivayam from Mannadipet; A John Kumar from Kamarajnagar; and PML Kalyanasundaram from Kalapet assembly seat.
 
While the BJP has entered an alliance with the AIADMK, the Congress has decided to contest the Puducherry assembly polls with 15 seats, while it is sharing 13 seats with the DMK and one each with the CPI and the VCK. The Congress bagged 15 seats in 2016, that is it won 30.6 percent of votes while DMK being its ally won two seats. The N.R. Congress that is also contesting the polls this year had won eight seats in 2016 assembly polls while the AIADMK had contested on its own and had bagged four seats, that is 16.82 percent of votes.