Mandaviya BJP’s Puducherry poll chief, Meghwal to be his deputy

In signs that it was taking the South Indian frontier areas very seriously, the BJP on Saturday began early preparations for the 2026 Puducherry elections by naming the election in charge.

While Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, credited with turning around the fortunes of the BJP in the 2023 Chhattisgarh Assembly poll, has been appointed the election in charge for Puducherry, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has been made the co-in charge.

BJP president JP Nadda formalised the appointments today, days after the BJP and the AIADMK announced a pre-poll pact for the 2026 Tamil Nadu elections.

In the 2021 Puducherry polls, the DMK-Congress alliance had swept the elections for the 30-seat Assembly. BJP general secretary (headquarters) Arun Singh announced the appointments today.

India