Puducherry, Nov 30 (PTI) Former BJP functionary Jose Charles Martin, son of ‘lottery king’ Santiago Martin, is all set to launch his own political party in December in Puducherry, aiming for the Chief Minister’s post, a source close to him said on Sunday.
Jose is managing director of Martin Group and follows his father’s footsteps in overseeing the lottery business in Maharashtra and Goa.
He has planned to launch the party around December 14 and involve himself in activities oriented towards building the party to capture power. Martin has not ruled out forging electoral ties to achieve the goal and is likely to enter into a pact with the actor-politician Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the source said.
Recently, former BJP leader V Saminathan and ex-AIADMK legislator from Karaikal K A U Assana Marecar joined the TVK in the presence of Vijay in Chennai.
Given the volatile political situation, there is scope for a new party to make inroads, the source claimed.
“The party would be headquartered in Puducherry. We are planning to launch the party on December 14,” he told PTI.
The 39-year-old Jose had formerly been with the BJP from 2015 but distanced himself from the saffron party in 2024 following a disagreement with the local leadership.
He unsuccessfully contested in the 2016 and 2021 elections in the union territory.
Martin has been building a public base for himself across Puducherry through his JCM Makkal Mandram outfit, which is engaged in distributing welfare assistance to the needy in 25 out of the 30 constituencies in the union territory.
His actions invited the criticism of former Puducherry Chief Minister and Congress senior V Narayanasamy, who accused Martin of being the “B team” of the local BJP unit, a charge that Jose later denied.
He had provided free food to the people in Kamaraj Nagar, Mudaliarpet, and Bahour constituencies on October 23. Days after this incident, BJP president V P Ramalingam asked the partymen not to associate themselves with the Mandram.
On whether he was drawn into politics inspired by his brother-in-law Aadhav Arjun, general secretary of TVK, Martin said “I have been in politics even before he entered.” On how he would make an impact in politics, he replied “Congress is dependent on others. The AINRC has not thought of developing Puducherry.” Puducherry can be made a better state in education, medicine, tourism, film industry, and other fields.
“When we come to power, we will lead Puducherry on the path of development. We are opposing the ruling AINRC, BJP, Congress, DMK, AIADMK, and will intensify our campaign against those parties,” he added.
Martin considers actor-politician Vijay to be influential in Puducherry, too, and says he would hold talks with TVK after the proposed launch of his party.
The Puducherry Assembly is dominated by Chief Minister N Rangasamy-led AINRC. The party’s strength accounts for 10 members, while the BJP and DMK have 6 legislators each, Congress 2, and independents constitute the remaining 6 in the 30-member house, which also has three nominated MLAs. The AINRC leads the NDA coalition in the UT. PTI JSP JSP SA
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