Puducherry Assembly poll: campaigning ends with many constituencies set for multi-cornered contest

As campaigning for Thursday’s Assembly election in Puducherry came to an end on Tuesday evening, reports from the ground suggest that many constituencies have tilted towards an intense multi-cornered contest, with the outcome becoming increasingly unpredictable.

There are a total of 294 candidates — 34 from national parties, 63 State parties, 80 registered unrecognised parties, and 117 Independents — in the fray.

The parties in fray include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), Left parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), and the Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK).

The poll scene in Puducherry was largely dominated by the two fronts — the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising the AINRC, the BJP, the AIADMK, and the LJK and the INDIA bloc, comprising the Congress, the DMK, and the VCK.

The Union Territory has 9,50,630 electors spread across the Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam regions.

The electorate size ranged from a minimum of 21,053 (Raj Bhavan constituency) to a maximum of 42,884 (Villianur constituency).

Many past elections in the Union Territory too were multi-cornered, largely due to the presence of Independents having a strong local influence. However, this time the contest has become more intense in several constituencies with the entry of the TVK, headed by actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay, and the division within the INDIA bloc.

TVK factor

What has greatly altered the battlefield this time are the profiles of a few candidates the TVK, a fledgling political party, has fielded. It has entered into the fray two sitting MLAs. One of them, Sai J. Saravanan Kumar, was a Minister in the incumbent AINRC-BJP government.

In four other constituencies, TVK has fielded former legislators. This has made the contest in the six constituencies evenly poised. Then comes the presence of Congress ‘rebels’ in six constituencies, where the Grand Old Party’s allies the DMK and VCK have also fielded candidates. In another two to three constituencies, the presence of Independents has further intensified the contest. There are also candidates fielded by the Left parties and the NTK.

Besides the difference in nature of the contest, the campaign style too was different at least compared to the last Assembly election. Unlike in the last poll, AINRC founder and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy restricted his campaign to constituencies contested by his party members. Though he participated in the roadshow of Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, he kept away from campaigning in constituencies contested by the BJP, the AIADMK and the LJK.

The AINRC leaders attributed the absence of the Chief Minister to the lack of time due to the short campaigning period for the 2026 election. The discord within INDIA bloc was evident, as besides the turbulence in seat-sharing talks, leaders failed to come up with a joint campaign strategy. The presence of multiple contestants and undercurrents within both fronts have made predicting the electoral outcome difficult.

The campaigns by political parties and candidates ended on a high-note, with leaders trying to reach out to voters one last time on Tuesday. For the BJP, Union Minister J.P. Nadda and former Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai held roadshows in different parts of the Union Territory.

DMK leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed street-corner meetings in the town and its outskirts. Congress leader and Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao campaigned for party candidates in the Puducherry region.