Chennai: Jose Charles Martin, businessman and son of India’s lottery king Santiago Martin, is set to launch a political party in December, ThePrint has learnt. The formal announcement will be made in the second week of December, with Puducherry as the party’s headquarters.
The party plans to contest all 30 seats in the 2026 Puducherry assembly elections, a source familiar with the matter said.
Jose made his political debut in 2015 with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He joined the party in the presence of the then organising secretary Ram Madhav. Although he failed to win in either the 2016 or the 2021 assembly elections, sources in the BJP say he was supported by the party’s Kamaraj Nagar MLA John Kumar, who once worked with Santiago Martin as a lottery agent.
Jose distanced himself from the BJP last year following a disagreement with local leaders on party affairs. Since then, the 39-year-old has been building a public base for himself across the union territory through his self-owned public entity, JCM Makkal Mandram (JCM public forum).
In recent months, the businessman distributed essentials like groceries and clothes to residents of Puducherry through his public enterprise. He also sponsored welfare programmes and organised medical camps across the union territory.
JCM Makkal Mandram now has a presence in 25 of 30 constituencies in Puducherry.
Jose’s increased public activity has not gone unnoticed. Former chief minister and senior Congress leader V. Narayanasamy accused the BJP of bringing up a B team in Puducherry ahead of the 2026 assembly election.
“The Makkal Mandram launched by businessman Jose Charles Martin is the B Team of the BJP. He has been providing free food to people in Kamaraj Nagar, Mudaliarpet, and Bahour constituencies, apart from distributing gift hampers with his picture,” Narayanasamy alleged on 23 October.
He also alleged that several BJP MLAs are affiliated with Jose and assist in distributing the gift hampers in their constituencies.
Days after Narayanasamy’s allegation, BJP President V.P. Ramalingam, on 30 October, said they do not approve of the party’s legislators being close to the Makkal Mandram launched by Jose.
“BJP has nothing to do with the recent public activity of Jose Charles Martin. We have informed the party’s high command about the situation and a party delegation from the Centre will soon launch an inquiry into the events,” Ramalingam told reporters in Puducherry.
Puducherry, a 30-member constituency, has 10 MLAs from All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), 6 from BJP, 6 from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), 2 from Congress, and 6 independent candidates. The ruling AINRC also enjoys support from the BJP and two other independent MLAs.
(Edited by Sampurna Panigrahi)
Also read: Vijay’s bid for youth vote prompts a Seeman counter-strategy in tussle for non-Dravidian crown