Puducherry Assembly elections at a glance: past voting trends, winners and close contests

Key players and alliances

Puducherry’s electoral landscape is made up of the following key players – the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and the Left parties. This year, actor Vijay’s party Tamilga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is set to make its electoral debut. Independent candidates also account for a large part of the total candidate pool (117 out of 291 candidates) this year.

This is how these parties have allied with each other:

However, alliance-building was not without difficulties in the Union Territory. Puducherry’s key parties and alliances were in flux, even as nomination deadlines loomed, with the alliance headed by the DMK breaking down after the VCK initially decided to branch out on its own in three seats. It has since reversed its decision and decided to contest in the one seat allotted to it in the alliance. The CPI, and CPI(M) split are not part of the DMK-Congress alliance in Puducherry. Seat-sharing uncertainty prevailed between the DMK and the Congress even on the last day of filing nominations, with a few Congress ‘rebels’ refusing to withdraw from the race.

The ruling AINRC reached an agreement with its alliance partner BJP only three days before the nomination deadline. Moreover, a couple pro-NDA Independents shifted over to the other side.

Past winners

Since 1977, the AIADMK, DMK, and the Congress have remained key players others than the AINRC, which was formed later. In 2021, however, the AIADMK did not win any seat.

The Congress’ 2-seat win in 2021 was the poorest since 1977. This was after its performance in 2016, when it won 15 of 30 seats. The BJP, too, won six seats in 2021, the most it has won ever. Additionally, candidates officially contesting as Independents also won six seats in 2021.

Close contests

The median margin of victory for candidates contesting in the Assembly elections has ranged between around 8% to around 24% in the elections since 1977 . In recent elections, the number has decreased. Around 20% of the constituencies were won by a margin of less than 5% of the total votes in 2021.