2026 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election

Election to the legislative assembly of Puducherry From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Legislative Assembly elections were held in Puducherry on 9 April 2026 to elect all the 30 members of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on 4 May 2026.

Registered9,50,311 (Decrease 6.01%)[1]
Turnout89.87% (Increase 6.43 pp)[2]
Quick facts 30 of 33 seats in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly 17 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
2026 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election
← 2021
9 April 2026
2031 →
30[a] of 33 seats in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered9,50,311 (Decrease 6.01%)[1]
Turnout89.87% (Increase 6.43 pp)[2]
 
Leader N. Rangaswamy V. Vaithilingam
Party AINRC INC
Alliance NDA SPA
Leader since 2011 2023
Leader's seat Thattanchavady
Mangalam		 Thattanchavady
Last election 25.85%, 10 seats 15.71%, 2 seats
Current seats 10 4
Seats needed Increase 6 Increase 12
Current Alliance seats 19 11
Alliance seats needed Steady Increase 5
Map of the assembly constituencies in Puducherry
Incumbent Chief Minister

N. Rangaswamy
AINRC


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The election recorded a voter turnout of 89.87%, the highest ever for an assembly election in the union territory.

Background

Elections to a Legislative Assembly in India are usually held once in five years, and the members of the legislative assembly are directly elected to serve five year terms from single-member constituencies.

The tenure of Puducherry Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 15 June 2026.[3] In the previous assembly elections held in April 2021, the All India N.R. Congress-led National Democratic Alliance formed the state government after winning 16 out of 30 seats in the assembly, with N. Rangaswamy sworn in as the Chief Minister.[4]

In the later part of 2025, the Election Commission of India conducted a Special Intensive Revision after 24 years, to revise the electoral rolls.[5]

Schedule

The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the election on 15 March 2026.[6]

More information Event, Date ...
Event Date
Date for Nomination 16 March 2026
Last date for filing nominations 23 March 2026
Scrutiny of nominations 24 March 2026
Last date for withdrawal of nomination 26 March 2026
Polling 9 April 2026
Counting of votes 4 May 2026
Deadline for the completion of election process 6 May 2026
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Parties and alliances

National Democratic Alliance

National Democratic Alliance seat sharing map

The seat sharing for the National Democratic Alliance was finalised on 20 March 2026.[7]

More information Party, Flag ...
National Democratic Alliance[7]
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
All India N.R. Congress N. Rangasamy[8] 16[7]
Bharatiya Janata Party V. P. Ramalingame[9] 10[7]
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam A. Anbalagan[10] 2[7]
Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi Jose Charles Martin[11] 2[7]
Total 30
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Secular Progressive Alliance

Secular Progressive Alliance seat sharing map

As per the seat-sharing agreement finalised on 23 March 2026, the Indian National Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) agreed to contest in 17 and 13 seats respectively.[12][13] However, the Congress had already fielded candidates in five seats allocated to the DMK, which resulted in friendly contests between the two parties in these five constituencies.[14]

The DMK allocated one seat from its quota to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). However, the VCK announced its exit from the alliance on 24 March 2026 citing seat-sharing disagreements.[15] However, on 6 April, the VCK announced that apart from the Oulgret constituency allocated to it, it will support the coalition candidates in the other three seats, where it had already fielded candidates.[16]

More information Party, Flag ...
Secular Progressive Alliance
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
Indian National Congress V. Vaithilingam 21[12][14]
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam R. Siva 13[12]
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Deva Pozhilan[17] 4[16]
Total 30+8[b]
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TVK–led Alliance

On 22 March 2026, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) announced its candidates for 30 constituencies in Puducherry.[18] Subsequently, Neyam Makkal Kazhagam, led by G. Nehru Kuppusamy, joined the TVK-led Alliance and was allocated two seats.[19]

More information Party, Flag ...
TVK-led Alliance
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam Vijay[19] 28[19]
Neyam Makkal Kazhagam G. Nehru Kuppusamy[19] 2[19]
Total 30
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SNMMK–AIPTMMK Alliance

On 20 March 2026, the S. Ramadoss-led faction of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, formed an alliance with All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AIPTMMK), led by V. K. Sasikala, for the assembly elections in Puducherry.[20] On 25 March 2026, a seat-sharing agreement was signed between G. Sathiyamoorthy of Sengol Needhi Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam and Sasikala of AIPTMMK for the elections.[21][22]

More information Party, Flag ...
SNMMK–AIPTMMK Alliance
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
Sengol Needhi Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam Sathiyamurthy 10[21]
All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam V. K. Sasikala[23] 4[22]
Total 14
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Others

On 7 March 2026, Naam Tamilar Katchi was the first party to announce its candidates for the elections, and announced its intention to contest in 28 of the 30 constituencies in the union territory.[24] The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India, which are part of the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu, withdrew from the alliance and independently fielded candidates in four and two constituencies respectively.[14]

More information Party, Flag ...
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
Naam Tamilar Katchi Seeman[25] 28[24]
Communist Party of India (Marxist) S. Ramachandran[26] 4[14]
Communist Party of India A. M. Saleem[27] 2[14]
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Candidates

More information District, No. ...
District No. Constituency NDA SPA TVK+
PartyCandidate PartyCandidate[c] PartyCandidate
Puducherry 1 Mannadipet BJP A. Namassivayam INC T. P. R. Selvame TVK K. Bharathithasan
2 Thirubuvanai (SC) AINRC B. Kobiga DMK P. Angalane TVK A. K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar
3 Ossudu (SC) BJP E. Theeppainthan INC P. Karthikeyan TVK S. Saraganabava
4 Mangalam AINRC N. Rangasamy DMK S. S. Rangan TVK M. K. Sathia Manikkavasagane
5 Villianur AINRC Ravikumar DMK R. Siva TVK R. Ramesh
6 Ozhukarai AINRC K. Narayanasamy VCK Selva. Pushpalatha TVK Sasibalan
7 Kadirkamam AINRC K. S. P. Ramesh DMK P. Vadivelu TVK Jayanthi Rajavelu
8 Indira Nagar AINRC A. K. D. Arumugam INC N. Rajakumar TVK S. Mourougane
9 Thattanchavady AINRC N. Rangasamy INC V. Vaithilingam NMK E. Vinayagam
10 Kamaraj Nagar LJK Jose Charles Martin INC P. K. Devadoss TVK Suman
11 Lawspet AINRC V. P. Sivakolundhu INC M. Vaithianathan TVK V. Saminathan
12 Kalapet BJP P. M. L. Kalyanasundaram DMK A. Senthil Ramesh TVK D. Sasikumar
13 Muthialpet AINRC Vaiyapuri Manikandan INC M. Rajendran TVK J. Prakash Kumar
14 Raj Bhavan BJP V. P. Ramalingame DMK Vignesh Kannan TVK V. J. Chandran
15 Oupalam AIADMK A. Anbalagan DMK Annibal Kennedy TVK S. Siva
16 Orleampeth AIADMK A. Gandhi DMK S. Gopal NMK G. Nehru Kuppusamy
17 Nellithope LJK A. Jayakumar DMK V. Karthikeyan TVK S. Vigneshwaran
18 Mudaliarpet BJP A. Johnkumar DMK L. Sambath TVK N. Manibalan
19 Ariankuppam AINRC Aiyappan INC D. Vijayalakshmy TVK Kumaravelu
20 Manavely BJP Embalam R. Selvam INC R. K. R. Anantharaman TVK B. Ramu
21 Embalam (SC) AINRC Mohamdaoss INC M. Kandaswamy TVK V. Tamilselvan
22 Nettapakkam (SC) AINRC Rajavelu INC P. Sadasivam TVK L. Periasamy
23 Bahour AINRC T. Thiagarajan DMK R. Senthilkumar TVK N. Dhanavelou
Karaikal 24 Nedungadu (SC) AINRC Chandira Priyanga INC Dinesh Kumar TVK U. Kamaraj
25 Thirunallar BJP G. N. S. Rajasekaran INC R. Kamalakannan TVK A. Raja Mohamed
26 Karaikal North AINRC P. R. N. Thirumurugan INC A. M. Ranjith TVK A. Vengadesh
27 Karaikal South BJP M. Arulmurugan DMK A. M. H. Nazeem TVK K. A. U. Assana
28 Neravy T. R. Pattinam BJP T. K. S. M. Meenatchisundaram DMK M. Nagathiyagarajan TVK Pranadarti Gareswaran
Mahe 29 Mahe BJP A. Dineshan INC Ramesh Parambath TVK Prijesh M.
Yanam 30 Yanam AINRC Malladi Krishna Rao INC Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok TVK Thota Raju
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Surveys and polls

Exit polls

More information Polling agency, Date published ...
Seat projections
Polling agency Date published Lead
NDA SPA TVK+ Others
Axis My India[28] 29 April 2026 16-20 6-8 2-4 1-3 8-14
Kamakhya Analytics[28] 17-24 4-7 1-7 0-1 10-20
People's Pulse[28] 16-19 10-12 1-3 1-2 4-9
Praja Poll[28] 19-25 6-10 1-6 0 9-19
JVC[28] 15-17 11-13 1-2 0-1 2-6
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Voting

According to the Election Commission of India, 9,50,311 voters were eligible to vote in the assembly elections in Puducherry. This includes 4,46,361 male, 5,03,810 female, and 140 third gender voters.[1] The polling was held on 9 April 2026 and the election recorded a voter turnout of 89.87%, the highest ever for an assembly election in the union territory.[2]

Results

By alliance or party

More information Alliance/ Party, Popular vote ...
Alliance/ Party Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Contested Won Change
NDA All India N.R. Congress 16
Bharatiya Janata Party 10
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 2
Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi 2
Total 30
SPA Indian National Congress 21
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 13
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi 4
Total 30[b]
TVK+ Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam 28
Neyam Makkal Kazhagam 2
Total 30
Other parties
Independents
NOTA
Total 100% — — 30 —
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By district

More information District, Seats ...
District Seats
NDA SPA TVK+ Others
Puducherry 23
Karaikal 5
Mahe 1
Yanam 1
Total 30
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By constituency

More information District, Constituency ...
District Constituency Winner Runner-up Margin
No. Name Candidate Party Votes % Candidate Party Votes % Votes %
Puducherry 1 Mannadipet A. Namassivayam BJP 15,918 53.96 T. P. R. Selvame INC 9,808 33.25 6,110 20.71
2 Thirubuvanai (SC)
3 Ossudu (SC)
4 Mangalam
5 Villianur
6 Ozhukarai
7 Kadirkamam
8 Indira Nagar
9 Thattanchavady N. Rangaswamy AINRC 10,024 42.51 E. Vinayagam NMK 5,583 23.68 4,441 8.83
10 Kamaraj Nagar
11 Lawspet V. P. Sivakolundhu AINRC 10,578 39.52 M. Vaithianathan INC 9,161 34.23 1,417 5.29
12 Kalapet
13 Muthialpet Vaiyapuri Manikandan AINRC 8,382 35.58 M. Rajendran INC 7,430 31.54 952 4.04
14 Raj Bhavan
15 Oupalam A. Anbalagan AIADMK 9,099 39.51 S. Siva TVK 8,073 35.05 1,026 4.46
16 Orleampeth
17 Nellithope V. Karthikeyan DMK 8,226 33.21 Omsakthisekar Independents 7,376 29.78 850 3.43
18 Mudaliarpet
19 Ariankuppam Aiyappan AINRC 14,210 41.18 D. Vijayalakshmy INC 13,607 39.43 603 1.75
20 Manavely
21 Embalam (SC) E. Mohamdaoss AINRC 16,017 50.78 M. Kandaswamy INC 11,956 37.91 4,061 12.87
22 Nettapakkam (SC)
23 Bahour
Karaikal 24 Nedungadu (SC) V. Vigneswaran Independents 14,368 50.54 Chandira Priyanga AINRC 9,869 34.71 4,499 15.63
25 Thirunallar
26 Karaikal North
27 Karaikal South
28 Neravy T. R. Pattinam
Mahé 29 Mahe
Yanam 30 Yanam Malladi Krishna Rao AINRC 19,863 55.44 Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok INC 15,295 42.69 4,568 12.75
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Notes

  1. [a]
    Three members are nominated by the Lieutenant Governor.
  2. [b]
    Friendly contests in eight constituencies.
  3. [c]
    The constituent parties of the Secular Progressive Alliance are engaged in a friendly fight in eight constituencies. This lists only the officially recognised candidates in the respective seats allocated to the constituent parties as per the seat sharing agreement between them.

References

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