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Martin Family’s Multi-Party Push Tests NDA Cohesion in Puducherry

About Rs 1,300 crore in electoral-bond gifts alongside an active ED probe shape perceptions before April voting.

Overview

  • AIADMK named Leema Rose Martin its Lalgudi candidate and made her joint secretary of the women’s wing.
  • Her son Charles launched the Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi in Puducherry, allied with the NDA, and will field two candidates.
  • NR Congress objected to the LJK tie-up, calling Charles a moneyed outsider with no local roots.
  • Aadhava Arjun, Santiago Martin’s son-in-law, serves as general secretary of actor Vijay’s TVK and is likely to run.
  • The Martin Group is under an Enforcement Directorate probe and gave about Rs 1,300 crore to parties via electoral bonds, a bank instrument that shields donor identities, with Charles denying any quid pro quo.