The counting of votes for Puducherry Assembly election results will begin at 8 AM amid tight security. High voter turnout marked the single-phase Assembly elections held in Puducherry on April 9. According to the Election Commission, Puducherry recorded the highest turnout of 89.20 per cent among the regions. In Puducherry, 10,14,070 electors were eligible to cast their votes for 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The electorate included 5,39,125 female voters, 4,74,788 male voters, and 157 voters belonging to the third gender category. A total of 24,156 voters are in the age group of 18-19 years.
As the NDA is fighting to retain power, the opposition Congress-led bloc is pushing to wrest power from the AINRC-led front in the union territory, centering its campaign on local autonomy and administrative friction.
What happened in 2021?
Puducherry registered 82.2 per cent polling in the last Assembly polls held in 2021. The NDA comprising AINRC, BJP, AIADMK and LJK and the INDIA bloc comprising Congress, DMK and the VCK are the two principal alliances in the race.
Among the important contestants are the AINRC leader and Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who is facing challenge from the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president and Lok Sabha MP V Vaithilingam in Thattanchavady constituency, the pocket borough of Rangasamy. Leader of opposition in the outgoing Assembly, DMK's R Siva is fighting from Villianur segment where M Ravikumar of AINRC is his immediate rival in the multi-cornered contest. Actor-director Seeman's NTK is another party which is in the race, determined to make a mark.
