The All India N R Congress-led National Democratic Alliance was headed towards forming the next government in Puducherry with the alliance winning in 14 of the 30 Assembly constituencies. It is just two short of a majority. While the Congress secured just two seats, its ally DMK won in three seats. Independent candidates won in four constituencies. As of 10 pm on Sunday, the BJP was leading in two more seats, while clear trends for the remaining constituencies were not available.
While the AINRC, which contested in 16 seats won 10 as of Sunday night, the BJP which contested in nine seats, emerged victorious in four seats, opening its account in the Puducherry House for the first time. During 2016-2021, the BJP had three nominated legislators.
Former Chief Minister and AINRC chief N. Rangasamy who contested two seats could manage to win only in his traditional constituency of Thattanchavady defeating CPI nominee K Sethu Selvam by a margin of 5,456 votes.
He lost to Independent Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok by a margin of 2,183 votes in the second seat of Yanam.
Former Minister and AINRC candidate P. Rajavelou won the reserved constituency of Nettapakkam defeating Congress nominee V. Vizeaveny by a margin of 6638 votes.
Former Minister and AINRC nominee from Mangalam constituency C. Djeacoumar defeated his DMK rival Sunkumaravel by a margin of 2751 votes.
Two defectors from Congress KSP Ramesh and V. Aroumougame won the Kadirgamam and Indira Nagar constituencies respectively for the AINRC.
While Mr Ramesh defeated his Congress rival P. Selvanathan by a margin of 12246 votes, Mr Aroumougame defeated M. Kannan of Congress by a margin of 18531 votes.
AINRC also retained Karaikal North and reserved constituency of Nedungadu in Karaikal region. P.R.N Thirumurugan contesting from Karaikal North defeated PCC chief A. V Subramanian by a slender margin of 135 votes while Chandrapriyanga defeated Congress nominee A. Marimuthu by a margin of 2214 votes in Nedungadu.
The party nominee U. Lakshmikanthan wrested another reserved constituency of Embalam from Congress by defeating former Minister M. Kandasamy with a margin of 2199 votes.
Former Congress legislator who joined AINRC K Lakshminarayanan retained Raj Bhavan constituency by defeating DMK’s S. P Sivakumar by a margin of 3752 votes.
AINRC nominee R. Baskar defeated Congress candidate T. Djeamourthy in Ariankuppam constituency by a margin of 6418 votes.
The BJP made major electoral gains with Congress turncoats winning three seats and leading in another constituency. A. Namassivayam who quit V. Narayanasamy led Congress cabinet ahead of the elections won the Mannadipet constituency. He defeated DMK’s A.K Kumar by a margin of 2750 votes.
Another defector from Congress to BJP before announcement of the Assembly polls,A. John Kumar, retained his Kamaraj Nagar constituency. He trounced former Congress Minister M.O.H.F Shahjahan by 7229 votes.
His son,Richard John Kumar, who joined the Saffron party along with him, won the Nellithope constituency by defeating DMK’s V. Karthikeyan by 496 votes.
P.M.L Kalyanasundaram, who switched from AINRC to BJP ahead of the polls, has established a clear lead of 2677 votes against his immediate rival Independent A. Senthil, in Kalapet constituency.
The Congress suffered its worst ever defeat by winning only two of the 15 seats it contested in the polls. The party could only manage to win Mahe and Lawspet constituencies.
Party nominee Ramesh Parambath won the Mahe seat defeating CPI (M) backed Independent by 234 votes. M Vaithianathan, who quit AINRC and fought the Lawspet seat as Congress nominee defeated BJP local unit president V. Saminathan by a margin of 5701 votes.
The DMK which contested as an ally of Congress won three seats. Party nominee R. Siva who was pitted against AINRC’s S. V Sugumaran in Villianur constituency won the seat by a margin of 6950 votes. Former Minister and party nominee from Karaikal South A.M.H Nazeem trounced AIADMK’s K.A.U Asana by 12034 votes.
Party nominee from Ouppalam Annibal Kennedy defeated four-time AIADMK legislator A. Anbalagan by a margin of 4780 votes.
Four AINRC members who contested as Independents after they were denied seats also had breakthroughs in the polls.
While Prakash Kumar defeated AIADMK’s Vayyapuri Manikantan by a margin of 549 votes, P. Angalane defeated AINRC’s B. Kobiga from Thirubhuvanai by a margin of 2389 votes.In Orleanpet constitency G. Nehru defeated DMK’s S. Gopal by a margin of 2093 votes.
In the temple town of Thirunallar in Karaikal, P. R Siva defeated his immediate rival belonging to BJP S Rajasekharan by a margin of 1390 votes, pushing former Agriculture Minister R. Kamalakannan to third place.
