Tracing Puducherry’s voting pattern in the past three electoral battles

Explore Puducherry's evolving political landscape and voting patterns ahead of the crucial 2026 election.

With Puducherry gearing up for yet another election, scheduled for April 9, it would be interesting to see how the Union Territory has voted in the past three Assembly elections.

The Puducherry Assembly has 30 seats. In many ways, the 2011 Assembly election turned out to be a watershed in the Union Territory’s political history. That year heralded the beginning of the journey of a new regional outfit — the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), led by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy — that proved itself capable of challenging the dominance of mainstream political parties such as the Congress, the DMK, the AIADMK, and the Left in the electoral landscape of the former French enclave.

The emergence of a regional outfit after the Government of Union Territories Act came into force in 1963, which was capable of forming a government on its own, brought with it several upheavals in Puducherry’s political scene. More than 15 years after its formation, the AINRC remains the fulcrum on which the politics of Puducherry is centred — a role once occupied by the Congress.

Mr. Rangasamy was originally a Congress man. After his removal as the Chief Minister in the Congress government in 2008 following a rebellion in the Cabinet, Mr. Rangasamy, just days before the 2011 Assembly election, decided to end his decades-old association with the Grand Old Party to form his own outfit. The party went to the polls in an alliance with the AIADMK, secured 15 of the 18 seats it had contested, and formed a government on its own.

The AINRC’s entry into the political arena led to several shifts and churns in the years leading up to the 2026 election. Though the Congress still holds its ground despite a severe setback in the 2021 Assembly election, the parallel story, along with the rise of the AINRC, has been the emergence of the BJP with a strong organisational base, and the decline of the AIADMK.

The Congress rebounded in 2016 with voters electing its candidates in 15 of the 21 constituencies it had contested. It formed a government with the support of its ally, the DMK. The AINRC, however, maintained its vote share, and became the main Opposition party, winning eight seats.