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.
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.[1] 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.[2]
In the later part of 2025, the Election Commission of India conducted a Special Intensive Revision after 24 years, to revise the electoral rolls.[3]
Schedule
The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the election on 15 March 2026.[4]
| 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 |
Parties and alliances
National Democratic Alliance
The seat sharing for the National Democratic Alliance was finalised on 20 March 2026.[5]
| colspan="6" Template:Party color cell | |||||
| National Democratic Alliance[5] | |||||
| Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Full party name with color | File:All India N.R. Congress.png | File:Indian Election Symbol Jug.svg | N. Rangasamy[6] | 16[5] | |
| Template:Full party name with color | File:BJP flag.svg | File:Lotus flower symbol.svg | V. P. Ramalingame[7] | 10[5] | |
| Template:Full party name with color | File:AIADMK Flag.svg | File:Indian election symbol two leaves.svg | A. Anbalagan[8] | 2[5] | |
| Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi | File:LJK Puducherry Logo.jpg | File:Indian Election Symbol Watermelon.jpg | Jose Charles Martin[9] | 2[5] | |
| Total | 30 | ||||
Secular Progressive Alliance
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.[10][11] 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.[12]
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.[13] 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.[14]
TVK–led Alliance
On 22 March 2026, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) announced its candidates for 30 constituencies in Puducherry.[16] Subsequently, Neyam Makkal Kazhagam, led by G. Nehru Kuppusamy, joined the TVK-led Alliance and was allocated two seats.[17]
| colspan="7" Template:Party color cell | ||||||
| TVK-led Alliance | ||||||
| Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Party color cell | Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam | File:Indian Election Symbol Whistle.png | Vijay[17] | 28[17] | ||
| Neyam Makkal Kazhagam | File:AMMK SYMBOL PRESSURE COOKER.png | G. Nehru Kuppusamy[17] | 2[17] | |||
| Total | 30 | |||||
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.[18] 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.[19][20]
| colspan="7" Template:Party color cell | ||||||
| SNMMK–AIPTMMK Alliance | ||||||
| Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sengol Needhi Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam | File:Diamond, Election symbol of Subi, leader of The Future India Party.svg | Sathiyamurthy | 10[19] | |||
| All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam | File:Indian Election Symbol Coconut Farm.jpg | V. K. Sasikala[21] | 4[20] | |||
| Total | 14 | |||||
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.[22] 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.[12]
| Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Full party name with color | File:NTK Party Symbol.png | File:NTK-EC-Symbol.jpg | Seeman[23] | 28[22] | |
| Template:Full party name with color | File:CPI-M-flag.svg | File:CPI(M) election symbol - Hammer Sickle and Star.svg | S. Ramachandran[24] | 4[12] | |
| Template:Full party name with color | File:CPI-banner.svg | File:CPI symbol.svg | A. M. Saleem[25] | 2[12] | |
_election_symbol_-_Hammer_Sickle_and_Star.svg){kind=link}
Candidates
Surveys and polls
Exit polls
| Polling agency | Date published | bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDA | SPA | TVK+ | Others | |||
| Axis My India[26] | 29 April 2026 | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | 6-8 | 2-4 | 1-3 | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color |
| Kamakhya Analytics[26] | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | 4-7 | 1-2 | 0-1 | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | |
| People's Pulse[26] | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | 10-12 | 0 | 1-2 | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | |
| Praja Poll[26] | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | 6-10 | 0 | 0 | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | |
| JVC[26] | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color | 11-13 | 1-2 | 0-1 | style="background:Template:Party color;" |Template:Font color |
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.[27] 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.[28]
Results
By alliance or party
| Alliance/ Party | Popular vote | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Contested | Won | Change | ||||
| Template:Party name with color | Template:Full party name with color | 16 | |||||||
| Template:Full party name with color | 10 | ||||||||
| Template:Full party name with color | 2 | ||||||||
| Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi | 2 | ||||||||
| Total | 30 | ||||||||
| Template:Party name with color | Template:Full party name with color | 21 | |||||||
| Template:Full party name with color | 13 | ||||||||
| Template:Full party name with color | 4 | ||||||||
| Total | 30Template:Efn | ||||||||
| TVK+ | Template:Full party name with color | 28 | |||||||
| Neyam Makkal Kazhagam | 2 | ||||||||
| Total | 30 | ||||||||
| Template:Party color cell | Other parties | ||||||||
| Template:Party color cell | Independents | ||||||||
| Template:Party color cell | NOTA | ||||||||
| Total | 100% | — | — | 30 | — | ||||
By district
| District | Seats | style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color" | | style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color" | | style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color" | | style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDA | SPA | TVK+ | Others | ||
| Puducherry | 23 | ||||
| Karaikal | 5 | ||||
| Mahe | 1 | ||||
| Yanam | 1 | ||||
| Total | 30 |
By constituency
| District | Constituency | Winner | Runner-up | Margin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | ||||
| Puducherry | 1 | Mannadipet | |||||||||||
| 2 | Thirubuvanai (SC) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Ossudu (SC) | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Mangalam | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Villianur | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Ozhukarai | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Kadirkamam | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Indira Nagar | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Thattanchavady | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Kamaraj Nagar | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Lawspet | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Kalapet | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Muthialpet | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Raj Bhavan | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Oupalam | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Orleampeth | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Nellithope | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Mudaliarpet | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Ariankuppam | ||||||||||||
| 20 | Manavely | ||||||||||||
| 21 | Embalam (SC) | ||||||||||||
| 22 | Nettapakkam (SC) | ||||||||||||
| 23 | Bahour | ||||||||||||
| Karaikal | 24 | Nedungadu (SC) | |||||||||||
| 25 | Thirunallar | ||||||||||||
| 26 | Karaikal North | ||||||||||||
| 27 | Karaikal South | ||||||||||||
| 28 | Neravy T. R. Pattinam | ||||||||||||
| Mahé | 29 | Mahe | |||||||||||
| Yanam | 30 | Yanam | |||||||||||
Notes
References
- ↑ Term of the Houses. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ↑ NR Congress-BJP alliance emerges victorious in Puducherry assembly polls. Business Standard(3 May 2021). Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ↑ SIR rollout schedule announced in Puducherry. The Hindu(29 October 2025). Retrieved 2 November 2025.
- ↑ Puducherry election dates: Voting on April 9, results on May 4. The Hindustan Times(15 March 2026). Retrieved 15 March 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Puducherry Assembly Polls: AINRC, BJP Seat Sharing Deal(20 March 2026). Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- ↑ Puducherry: BJP draws clear strategy to fight the election in alliance with CM Rangaswamy's AINRC. The Week(14 February 2026). Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ↑ Mansukh Mandaviya appointed BJP in-charge for Puducherry ahead of 2026 polls. The Economic Times(19 April 2025). Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ↑ AIADMK seeks reshuffle of police officers working in suburban and rural areas in Puducherry. The Hindu(4 July 2025). Retrieved 18 November 2025.
- ↑ Businessman Jose Charles Martin floats new party in Puducherry. The Hindu(14 December 2025). Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Puducherry polls: Congress-DMK seal seat-sharing pact; sitting MP Vaithilingam to take on CM Rangasamy. India TV(23 March 2026). Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ Puducherry Assembly election 2026: Congress, DMK leaders to meet again for seat-sharing talks. The Hindu(15 March 2026). Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Friendly contest' clouds INDIA bloc's prospects in Puducherry. The New Indian Express(26 March 2026). Retrieved 31 March 2026.
- ↑ Puducherry elections 2026: Upset VCK exits DMK-Congress alliance, decides to contest alone. The Hindu(25 March 2026). Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 VCK to contest only in Oulgaret constituency in Puducherry. The New Indian Express(6 April 2026). Retrieved 6 April 2026.
- ↑ VCK workers stage demonstration. The Hindu(5 March 2025). Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ↑ புதுச்சேரி தேர்தலுக்கான த.வெ.க. வேட்பாளர் பட்டியல் வெளியீடு. Daily Thanthi(22 March 2026). Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 TVK Alliance in Puducherry. News18(23 March 2026). Retrieved 23 March 2026.
- ↑ Ramadoss-led PMK, SasikalaTemplate:''s outfit join forces for Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. ThePrint(20 March 2026). Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 புதுச்சேரியில் செங்கோல் நீதி மக்கள் முன்னேற்றக் கழகத்துடன் சசிகலாவின் புதிய கட்சி கூட்டணி..!. Dinakaran(25 March 2026). Retrieved 31 March 2026.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 புதுச்சேரி தேர்தலிலும் களம் காணும் சசிகலா: 4 தொகுதிகளில் போட்டி. Maalai Malar(26 March 2026). Retrieved 31 March 2026.
- ↑ Sasikala announces her party's name: All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. The Hindu(13 March 2026). Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 NTK announces candidates for Assembly polls in Puducherry. The Hindu(7 March 2026). Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ Seeman backs TVK chief on UT's statehood. DT Next(9 December 2025). Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ↑ CPI (M) demands scrapping of Smart Meter project in Puducherry. The Hindu. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- ↑ Saleem re-elected secretary of CPI's Puducherry unit. The Hindu(3 September 2025). Retrieved 11 September 2025.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 NDA To Get Second Straight Term In Puducherry With 16-20 Of 30 Seats: Axis My India Exit Poll(29 April 2026). Retrieved 29 April 2026.
- ↑ Puducherry publishes final electoral roll; over 9.4 lakh voters registered(14 February 2026). Retrieved 15 March 2026.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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