High enthusiasm, long queues mark polling as Puducherry shatters record
The Hindu
Puducherry achieved a historic 89.74% voter turnout in the 2026 Assembly elections, despite minor complaints and allegations.
A steady flow of electors to the polling stations in Puducherry on Thursday (April 9, 2026) turned the 2026 Assembly election into a record breaking one.
Breaking all previous polling percentages, Puducherry on Thursday (April 9, 2026) registered a record 89. 74% polling with almost half of the constituencies crossing the 90% polling mark by 8 p.m. Enthusiasm among the voters was very visible from dawn as people thronged the polling stations much before the voting process even started around 7 a.m.
And when polling began, long queues of women, young and old were witnessed in several booths across urban, rural and coastal constituencies. By the first four hours itself, as much as 37.06 % of votes were polled in the Union Territory. The territory had recorded 83.3% of polling in the 2021 Assembly election.
Those who exercised their franchise early in the day itself included Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan, his wife Beena, mother Leela, Chief Minister and AINRC founder N. Rangasamy, who is contesting from Thattanchavady and Mangalam constituencies, former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, Congress president and party candidate V. Vaithilingam, BJP leader and party candidate from Mannadipet A. Namassivayam, DMK convenor and party’s candidate from Villianur R. Siva and BJP president and party candidate from Raj Bhavan V. P Ramalingam.
There were no major complaints pertaining to polling process. However, there were allegations of voter inducement and reports of minor scuffles from two constituencies during the early hours of polling.
Allegations of inducement of voters through distribution of gift tokens surfaced in Bahour Assembly constituency where DMK sitting member Senthil Kumar is pitted against AINRC candidate T. Thiagarajan. A group dumped the gift tokens near a polling booth and fled the scene. An election flying squad seized the tokens.
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