Puducherry, March 27 -- A total of 294 candidates are in the fray for the April 9 Puducherry Assembly elections with Congress, heading the INDIA bloc, contesting in 22 seats, six more than it was allotted, having fielded its nominees in five seats given to its key ally, the DMK, and in one constituency earmarked for another partner, VCK leading to development of cracks in the alliance, that could dent its poll prospects.
Official sources today confirmed that after 366 of the 514 nominations filed by various political parties and Indepedents were found in order and accepted, 72 candidates have withdrawn from the contest during the last date for withdrawals on Thursday, leaving 294 contestants in the fray to fill up 30 seats.
While 253 cand...