The Communist Party of India (CPI) has nominated former Minister R. Viswanathan, who is the secretary of territorial unit, for Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency.
He was Minister between 1996 and 1999 in the coalition government led by R.V. Janakiraman of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Mr. Viswanathan has held portfolios of agriculture, rural development, social welfare and fire service. He was elected to the Territorial Assembly four times from Reddiarpalayam constituency.
Starting his life as a clerk in co-operative dairy, Mr. Viswanathan joined politics following the advice of V. Subbaiah, CPI leader. He resigned his job and joined as full-time party worker in 1976. Expressing gratitude to the party high command for fielding him in Puducherry, Mr. Viswanathan said the Left front would make all out efforts to reach out to the people of Puducherry highlighting the failure of the Congress and the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC).
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded medical practitioner V. Rengarajan in Puducherry. He has been practicing medicine for the last 35 years and running a hospital here. He joined the AAP when party founder Arvind Kejriwal launched the regional unit a few months ago.
