2022 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election
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6 April 2021
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All 30 seats in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
16 seats needed for a majority
Registered 1,004,507[1]
Turnout 83.42%(Decrease1.66pp)
  Majority party Minority party
 
DMK
Leader N. Rangaswamy R. Siva
Party AINRC DMK
Alliance NDA SPA+UPA
Leader since 2011 2021
Leader's seat Thattanchavady (won)
Yanam (lost)		 Villianur (won)
Last election 8 2
Seats won 10 6
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 4
Popular vote 216,249 154,858
Percentage 25.85% 18.51%
Swing Decrease 2.25pp Increase 9.61pp
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader A. Namassivayam V. Narayanasamy
Party BJP INC
Alliance NDA SPA+UPA
Leader since 2021 2016
Leader's seat Mannadipet (won) Did not contest
Last election 0 15
Seats won 6 2
Seat change Increase 6 Decrease 13
Popular vote 114,298 131,393
Percentage 13.66% 15.71%
Swing Increase 11.26pp Decrease 14.89pp
Chief Minister before election

V. Narayanasamy
INC

 Elected Chief Minister

N. Rangaswamy
AINRC

The elections to elect the members of the 15th Puducherry Assembly was held on 6 April 2021. The elections were held for all the 30 constituencies of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly.

The National Democratic Alliance won a simple majority in the elections, and N. Rangaswamy of the All India N.R. Congress was sworn in as the chief minister for the fourth time.

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 previous assembly elections were held in May 2021 to elect the 30 members of the 14th Puducherry Assembly.

In the previous election, the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance formed the government after winning 17 of the 30 seats, and V. Narayanasamy sworn in as the chief minister.[2][3] All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), which had formed the government under N. Rangaswamy after the 2011 elections, won eight seats, and Rangaswamy became the leader of the opposition in the assembly.[4]

In February 2021, a trust vote was called by the lieutenant governor after five members of the Congress including two ministers, and one member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) resigned from the assembly.[5] With the strength of the house reduced to 27, which included the three nominated members, the government had the support of only 11 members. After the government lost the trust vote, Narayanasamy resigned as chief minister on 22 February. Later, Narayanasamy stated that the government lost because the speaker accepted the votes from nominated members on equal standing to the elected ones, and the lieutenant governor, who was a former member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had appointed members of the same party for all the nominated seats.[6]

Schedule

Event Date
Beginning of nominations 12 March 2021
Deadline for filing Nominations 19 March 2021
Scrutiny of nominations 20 March 2021
Deadline for withdrawal of candidatures 22 March 2021
Polling 6 April 2021
Counting 2 May 2021

Parties and alliances

United Progressive Alliance

Seat sharing amongst the members of United Progressive Alliance

The Congress led United Progressive Alliance contested the elections in alliance with the DMK.[7] The Communist Party of India (Marxist) contested the Muthialpet seat and supported the alliance in all other seats.[8]

United Progressive Alliance
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
Indian National Congress V. Narayanasamy 14
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam R. Siva 13
Communist Party of India A. M. Saleem 1
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Thol. Thirumavalavan 1
Independent Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok 1[note 1]
Total 30

National Democratic Alliance

Constituency sharing of NDA allies for the 2021 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election

The National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP, consisted of AINRC and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. [10] The Pattali Makkal Katchi, which initially announced candidates to nine seats, later withdrew from competition, and supported the alliance without contesting in any seat.[11]

National Democratic Alliance
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats
All India N.R. Congress N. Rangaswamy 16
Bharatiya Janata Party A. Namassivayam 9
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam A. Anbalagan 5
Total 30

Other parties

Party Symbol Leader Seats contested
Makkal Needhi Maiam MNM Kamal Haasan 22
Naam Tamilar Katchi NTK Seeman 28
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam DMDK

Vijayakanth 26
Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi IJK T. R. Paarivendhar 21
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) K. Balakrishnan 1
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation CPI(ML)L Dipankar Bhattacharya 1

Candidates

List Of Candidates[12]
District Constituency UPA NDA
No. Name Party Candidate Party Candidate
Puducherry 1 Mannadipet DMK A. Krishnan BJP A. Namassivayam
2 Thirubuvanai (SC) DMK A. Mugilan AINRC B. Gobika
3 Ossudu (SC) INC P. Karthikeyan BJP A. K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar
4 Mangalam DMK Sankumaravel AINRC C. Djeacoumar
5 Villianur DMK R. Siva AINRC S. V. Sugumaran
6 Ozhukarai VCK D. Angalane AINRC G. Pannirselvam
7 Kadirkamam INC P. Selvanathan AINRC S. Ramesh
8 Indira Nagar INC M. Kannan AINRC A. K. D. Arumugam
9 Thattanchavady CPI K. Sethu Selvam AINRC N. Rangaswamy
10 Kamaraj Nagar INC M. O. H. F. Shahjahan BJP A. Johnkumar
11 Lawspet INC M. Vaithianathan BJP V. Saminathan
12 Kalapet DMK S. Muthuvel BJP P. M. L. Kalyanasundaram
13 Muthialpet INC S. Senthil Kumaran AIADMK Vaiyapuri Manikandan
14 Raj Bhavan DMK S. P. Sivakumar AINRC K. Lakshminarayanan
15 Oupalam DMK V. Annibal Kennedy AIADMK A. Anbalagan
16 Orleampeth DMK S. Gopal AIADMK Omsakthi Sekar
17 Nellithope DMK V. Karthikeyan BJP Richards Johnkumar
18 Mudaliarpet DMK L. Sambath AIADMK A. Baskar
19 Ariankuppam INC T. Jayamurthy AINRC R. Baskar Datchanamourtty
20 Manavely INC R. K. R. Anantharaman BJP Embalam R. Selvam
21 Embalam (SC) INC M. Kandassamy AINRC U. Lakshmikandhan
22 Nettapakkam (SC) INC V. Vijayaveny AINRC P. Rajavelu
23 Bahour DMK R. Senthilkumar AINRC N. Danavelu
Karaikal 24 Nedungadu (SC) INC A. Marimuthu AINRC Chandira Priyanga
25 Thirunallar INC R. Kamalakannan BJP G. N. S. Rajasekaran
26 Karaikal North INC A. V. Subramanian AINRC P. R. N. Thirumurugan
27 Karaikal South DMK A.M.H. Nazeem AIADMK K. A. U. Asana
28 Neravy T R Pattinam DMK M. Nagathiyagarajan BJP V. M. C. S. Manokaran
Mahe 29 Mahe INC Ramesh Parambath AINRC V. P. Abdul Rahman
Yanam 30 Yanam IND Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok AINRC N. Rangaswamy

Polls and surveys

Opinion polls

Date Polling agency Lead
NDA UPA Others
3 April 2021 Thanthi TV[13] 21-27 3-9 0 12-24
24 March 2021 Patriotic Voter[14] 17-18 10-12 0-3 6
15 March 2021 ABP News–CVoter[15] 16-20 10-14 0 2-10
8 March 2021 Times Now–CVoter[16] 18 12 0 6
1 March 2021 Patriotic Voter[14] 19 11 0 8

Exit polls

Date published Polling agency Lead
NDA UPA Others
29 April 2021 Republic TV–CNX[17] 16-20 11-13 - 5-7
29 April 2021 Patriotic Voter[14] 18 12 - 6
29 April 2021 ABP News–CVoter[17] 19-23 6-10 1-2 9-17

Voter Turnout

Turnout[18][19]
District Vote %
Karaikal 80.07
Mahé 73.53
Puducherry 82.01
Yanam 91.27
Total 83.42

Result

16 9 5
NDA UPA IND
Vote share by alliance
  1. NDA (43.6%)
  2. UPA (37.9%)
  3. Others (18.5%)
Seat share by alliance
  1. NDA (53.3%)
  2. UPA (30.0%)
  3. IND (16.7%)
Party Votes Vote % Swing Conts Won Change
All India N.R. Congress 216,249 25.85 Decrease 2.3 16 10 Increase 2
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 154,858 18.51 Increase 9.6 13 6 Increase 4
Indian National Congress 131,393 15.71 Decrease 14.9 14 2 Decrease 13
Bharatiya Janata Party 114,298 13.66 Increase 11.3 9 6 Increase 6
Independents 106,098 12.68 6 Increase 5
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 34,623 4.14 Decrease 12.7 5 0 Decrease 4
Naam Tamilar Katchi 28,189 3.37 Increase 2.9 28 0 Steady
Makkal Needhi Maiam 15,825 1.89 Increase 1.89 22 0 New Party
Communist Party of India 7,522 0.90 Decrease 0.2 1 0 Steady
None of the above 10,803 1.29 Decrease 0.4
Total 836,562 100 30 30
Valid votes 836,562 99.88
Invalid votes 981 0.12
Votes cast / turnout 837,543 83.42
Registered voters 1,004,507
Source:Election Commission of India[20]

Results by party and alliance

Source[21]
NDA Seats UPA Seats Others Seats
AINRC 10 INC 2 IND 6
BJP 6 DMK 6
Total 16 Total 8 Total 6
Change Increase 5 Change Decrease 9 Change Increase 4

Results by district

District Seats
NDA UPA Others
Puducherry 23 14 5 4
Karaikal 5 2 2 1
Mahe 1 0 1 0
Yanam 1 0 1 0
Total 30 16 9 5

Results by constituency

Results[22][23]
District Constituency & Turnout Winner Runner-up Margin
# Name % Candidate Party Votes % Candidate Party Votes %
Puducherry 1 Mannadipet 89.10 A. Namassivayam BJP 14,939 51.82 A. Krishnan DMK 12,189 42.28 2,750
2 Thirubuvanai (SC) 87.61 P. Angalane IND 10,597 36.78 B. Kobiga AINRC 8,238 28.60 2,359
3 Ossudu (SC) 89.50 A. K. Saravanankumar BJP 14,121 48.78 P. Karthikeyan INC 12,241 42.29 1,880
4 Mangalam 87.75 C. Djeacoumar AINRC 16,972 50.89 Sun. Kumaravel DMK 14,221 42.64 2,751
5 Villianur 83.08 R. Siva DMK 19,653 55.73 S.V. Sugumaran AINRC 12,703 36.02 6,950
6 Ozhukarai 77.83 M. Sivasankar IND 11,940 36.50 N.G. Pannir Selvam AINRC 11,121 34.00 819
7 Kadirkamam 78.04 S. Ramesh AINRC 17,775 65.82 P. Selvanadane INC 5,529 20.47 12,246
8 Indira Nagar 82.04 A. K. D. Arumugam AINRC 21,841 74.77 M. Kannan INC 3,310 11.33 18,531
9 Thattanchavady 76.89 N. Rangasamy AINRC 12,978 55.02 K. Sethu Selvam CPI 7,522 31.89 5,456
10 Kamaraj Nagar 78.65 A. Johnkumar BJP 16,687 56.11 M. O. H. F. Shahjahan INC 9,458 31.80 7,229
11 Lawspet 80.67 M. Vaithianathan INC 14,592 55.60 V. Saminathan BJP 8,891 33.88 5,701
12 Kalapet 85.87 P. M. L. Kalyanasundaram BJP 13,277 44.63 A. Senthil Ramesh IND 9,769 32.84 3,508
13 Muthialpet 78.64 J. Prakash Kumar IND 8,778 37.48 Vaiyapuri Manikandan AIADMK 7,844 33.49 934
14 Raj Bhavan 73.93 K. Lakshminarayanan AINRC 10,096 51.86 S.P. Sivakumar DMK 6,364 32.69 3,732
15 Oupalam 85.06 Annibal Kennedy DMK 13,433 56.64 A. Anbalagan AIADMK 8,653 36.48 4,780
16 Orleampeth 81.95 G. Nehru Kuppusamy IND 9,580 47.29 S. Gopal DMK 7,487 36.96 2,093
17 Nellithope 82.56 V. R. Johnkumar BJP 11,757 42.26 V. Karthikeyan DMK 11,261 40.47 496
18 Mudaliarpet 83.01 L. Sambath DMK 15,151 51.30 A. Baskar AIADMK 10,972 37.15 4,179
19 Ariankuppam 84.23 R. Baskar Datchanamourtty AINRC 17,858 54.32 T. Jayamoorthy INC 11,440 34.80 6,418
20 Manavely 86.74 Embalam R. Selvam BJP 17,225 57.54 R. K. R. Anantharaman INC 9,093 30.37 8,132
21 Embalam (SC) 88.76 U. Lakshmikandhan AINRC 15,624 50.85 M. Candassamy INC 13,384 43.56 2,240
22 Nettapakkam (SC) 86.93 P. Rajavelu AINRC 15,978 56.82 V. Vijayaveny INC 9,340 33.21 6,638
23 Bahour 89.60 R. Senthilkumar DMK 11,789 44.56 N. Dhanavelou AINRC 11,578 43.76 201
Karaikal 24 Nedungadu (SC) 84.92 S. Chandra Priyanga AINRC 10,774 40.20 A. Marimuthu INC 8,560 31.94 2,214
25 Thirunallar 85.93 P. R. Siva IND 9,551 36.45 S. Rajasekaran BJP 8,416 31.32 1,380
26 Karaikal North 79.43 P. R. N. Thirumurugan AINRC 12,704 44.85 A. V. Subramanian INC 12,569 44.38 135
27 Karaikal South 76.54 A. M. H. Nazeem DMK 17,401 71.15 K. A. U. Asana AIADMK 5,367 21.95 12,034
28 Neravy T R Pattinam 83.40 M. Nagathiyagarajan DMK 14,496 55.74 V. M. C. S. Manokaran BJP 8,985 34.55 5,511
Mahe 29 Mahe 75.29 Ramesh Parambath INC 9,744 41.63 N. Haridasan Master IND 9,444 40.35 300
Yanam 30 Yanam 92.31 Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok IND 17,131 49.04 N. Rangasamy AINRC 16,475 47.17 655

Government formation

Further information: Fourth Rangaswamy ministry

As the NDA achieved a majority in the elections, the AINRC–BJP combine formed the next government.[24] The lieutenant governor appointed three members to the assembly, all of whom belonged to the BJP, raising its count to nine in the assembly.[25] Furthermore, the six independent members pledged support to the government, increasing its strength to 25 in the 33-member assembly. Rangaswamy was sworn in as the chief minister of Puducherry for the fourth time on 7 May 2021.[26] On 8 June, the alliance announced that the BJP would get two ministers and the post of the assembly speaker, while AIRNC got three ministers.[27]

See also

  • 2021 elections in India
  • 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
  • 2019 Indian general election in Puducherry

References

  1. ^ "General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Puducherry, 2021". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Congress emerges as the single largest party in Puducherry". The Times of India. 20 May 2016. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Congress-DMK front regains power in Pondy". The Times of India. 20 May 2016. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Puducherry CM Rangasamy resigns". The Hindu. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Explained: The trust vote in Puducherry". The Indian Express. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Congress loses Puducherry". Business Line. 22 February 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Puducherry CM Narayanasamy brokers truce between DMK, Congress". The New Indian Express. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  8. ^ "CPI(M) announces candidate for seat in Puducherry, to support allies in other constituencies". The Economic Times. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Independent candidate Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok defeats Rangaswamy in Yanam". Samayam Telugu (in Telugu). 3 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  10. ^ "BJP alliance to sweep Puducherry assembly polls: Asianet-C fore pre-poll survey". The Hindustan Times. 16 March 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Puducherry polls: PMK makes about-turn, withdraws nominations, to support NDA candidates". The New Indian Express. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Candidates affidavits". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 19 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Thanthi TV Opinion Poll 2021". YouTube. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b c "Puducherry 2020". Patriotic Voter. Archived from the original on 7 September 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  15. ^ "ABP CVoter Opinion Poll 2021: Voters' Mood Not In Favour Of Congress-Led Alliance In Puducherry, NDA Likely To Form Govt". ABP News. 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Puducherry pre-poll survey 2021: 'Congress likely to lose its grip; NDA projected to form govt'". Times Now. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Elections Exit Poll Results 2021 Live Updates: Exit polls show Mamata, Pinarayi and Sonowal holding on to power". The Indian Express. 29 April 2021. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Puducherry Election 2021: UT registers 81.64% polling as Congress-led SDA locks horns with NDA in bid to regain turf". Firstpost. 6 April 2021. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Assembly elections | Peaceful polling in T.N., Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and Bengal". The Hindu. 6 April 2021. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  20. ^ "General election to Vidhan Sabha May-2021". Election Commission of India. 2 May 2021. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Party wise results". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Puducherry General Legislative Election 2021". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Puducherry Election Results 2021: Check Full List of Winners". NDTV. 3 May 2021. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Puducherry Election Results 2021: NDA wins in Pondy by bagging 16 seats, here's the list of winners". India Today. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  25. ^ "Three nominated MLAs take BJP's tally to nine". The New Indian Express. 11 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  26. ^ "AINRC's Rangasamy sworn-in as Puducherry Chief Minister for fourth time". The Hindu. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  27. ^ "BJP keeps Rangasamy on tenterhooks in Puducherry". The Times of India. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2025.

Notes

  1. ^ Congress did not contest in Yanam and extended support to the independent.[9]