With Puducherry set to vote on April 9, the Thattanchavady Assembly Constituency has once again come into focus as one of the Union Territory's most politically active and closely fought seats. It is located in the Puducherry district. Over the years, Thattanchavady has witnessed intense electoral battles between the All India NR Congress (AINRC), the DMK and the Congress, with each party finding intermittent success depending on shifting voter sentiments and candidate-specific appeal. It is constituency number 9 of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. The constituency is a general seat and it is not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Thattanchavady Assembly Election: Key candidates
The Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katch, Puducherry Development Party, Puratchi Bharatham, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Aam Admi Party (AAP) are the main parties in the state. The key candidates for the Thattanchavady seat are AINRC leader N Rangasamy, Congress leader V Vaithilingam and NMK's E Vinayagam.
Thattanchavady Constituency Demographic Profile
As per data from the Election Commission, there were 23,596 voters in the Thattanchavady constituency during the 2021 Assembly Elections. Out of this, 10,872 were male and 12,149 were female voters. One voter belonged to the third gender. 574 postal votes were cast in the constituency. The number of service voters in Thattanchavady was 13 (13 men and 0 women).
In 2016, the total number of voters in the Thattanchavady constituency was 23,704. Out of this, 11,028 voters were male, 12,343 were female and none voter belonged to a third gender. There were 331 valid postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Thattanchavady in 2016 was 19 (12 men and 7 women).
Thattanchavady Constituency 2021 and 2016 Winners (Candidates and Parties)
In the 2021 Puducherry Assembly Elections, AINRC candidate N Rangasamy won the Thattanchavady seat with a margin of 5,456 votes (23.54%). He polled 12,978 votes with a vote share of 55.02%. He defeated Communist Party of India candidate K Sethu Selvam, who got 7,522 votes (31.89%). NTK candidate D Ramesh stood third with 1183 votes (5.02%).
In the 2016 Puducherry Assembly Elections, AINRC candidate Ashok Anand won the Thattanchavady seat with a margin of 7458 votes (31.52%). He polled 12,754 votes with a vote share of 53.90%. Communist Party of India candidate K Sethu Selvam got 5,296 votes (22.38%) and was the runner-up. ADMK candidate S Cassinadin stood third with 1,649 votes (13.84%).
