Senior Congress leader and former Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanaswamy, who is not contesting the 2021 Assembly elections, will, however, be leading the poll campaign of the DMK-Congress combine in the Union Territory.

Narayanaswamy was reportedly denied ticket by the party high command due to his failure to hold together the Congress leaders and MLAs, many of whom joined the BJP, leading to the fall of his government.

However, the party is using the services of the veteran leader to lead the poll campaign.

Narayanaswamy, talking to IANS, said: "I was not intended to contest the election and I will be leading the election campaign for our alliance."

Though several opinion polls show the AIADMK-BJP-AINRTC combine coming to power, he said: "The Congress party is well placed for any electoral challenge and our combine will win the elections for sure. We have stitched our combination in a proper manner without any loopholes and taking into consideration all the basic social intricacies."

While Narayanaswami is putting up a brave face, the BJP camp is upbeat.

Puducherry BJP President Swaminathan told IANS that "our alliance is on a winning mode and the ground realities are in our favour. We have a formidable combination with AINRC and AIADMK".