N Rangasamy, the current Chief Minister of Puducherry and leader of the All India Congress (AINRC), was declared the winner in Thattanchavadi Assembly constituency. He achieved victory by a margin of 4,441 votes after counting the votes in the Union Territory on May 4 for the House of Representatives elections.
AINRC won four seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won one seat after the seventh round of vote counting at 1 pm, according to the Election Commission (EC). Elections in the Union Territory concluded on April 9.
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Division of votes in Thatanchavadi
Rangasamy received a total of 10,024 votes to win the Thattanchavady constituency. His closest rival, E Vinayagam from Niyam Makkal Kazhagam, polled 5,583 votes.
Independent candidate K. Sethu (Sethuselvam) polled 3,984 votes, finishing 6,040 votes behind the winner. He left behind veteran Indian National Congress leader V Vaithilingam, who polled 2,990 votes, trailing the winner by 7,034 votes.
More about N Rangasamy
Rangasamy is a veteran political leader in Puducherry and has been the Chief Minister of the Union Territory since May 2021.
He has served as Prime Minister for several previous terms, first from 2001 to 2008, and again from 2011 to 2016. In 2011, he founded the All India Congress NR after separating from the Indian National Congress.
His political journey spans several decades of changing electoral trends in Puducherry. In the 1970s, leaders such as V. Pethaprumal of the Indian National Congress had significant influence, while the 1977 elections saw the rise of the Janata Party. During the 1980s and 1990s, parties such as the Janata Dal played a role, and Rangasamy himself emerged as a representative of the Indian National Congress by 1991.
The political landscape continued to evolve during the 1996, 2001, and 2006 elections. In 2011, AINRC’s presence was strengthened under the leadership of leaders like Ashok Anand. Venkatesan of the DMK won the 2019 by-election, before Rangasamy returned to power in 2021 under the AINRC banner, marking another shift in Puducherry’s political landscape.
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Compilation of voting trends in the 2026 election
Puducherry is expected to witness the return of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by N Rangaswamy, as early results from the Election Commission showed the alliance leading on 23 seats in the 30-member Legislative Assembly.
According to the latest pollster data, AINRC is leading in 9 seats, while its NDA ally, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is leading in 2 seats. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leads with one seat.
AINRC is leading in 9 seats, including N Rangasamy from Thattanchavady. Other candidates include VP Sivakolundhu, Vaiyapuri Manikandan, C.K. Aiyappan (aka Mouttayappan), E Mohandoss, P Rajavelu, PRN Thirumurugan, and Malladi Krishna Rao.
On the other hand, the Indian National Congress is leading by one seat, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is leading by one seat.
Exit polls 2026 predictions for Puducherry
The NDA, led by the AINRC under N Rangaswamy, along with the BJP, is expected to get between 16 and 20 seats according to exit polls. The main components of the alliance include AINRC, BJP, AIADMK and Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK).
In their cross-poll predictions, pollsters on Wednesday predicted AINRC-NDA to win Puducherry in the 2026 Assembly elections.
The exit poll conducted by People Pulse predicted that the NDA would get 16-19 Assembly seats, while the Congress and allies would get 10-12 of the total 30 Assembly seats in the Union Territory.
In Puducherry, the National Democratic Alliance, which includes the AINRC, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress-DMK alliance, participated in the contest. Actor Vijay’s TVK also sought to make him a triangle.
The electoral contest in Puducherry primarily featured the NDA and Congress-DMK alliance, although actor Vijay Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) also tried to make the contest a three-way contest. TVK contested in alliance with Naam Tamilar Katchi (PNMK), along with other parties like PMK, NTK and CPI(M).
The seat-sharing arrangements saw the NDA partners dividing the constituencies with the AINRC contesting 16 seats, the BJP 10 seats, and the AIADMK and LJK contesting two seats each.
On the other hand, the India Bloc featured the Congress contesting 16 seats and the DMK contesting 14 seats. The VCK, despite being part of the SPA in neighboring Tamil Nadu, chose to contest three seats independently in Puducherry after being offered only one seat.
The current term of the 30-member Puducherry Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on June 15. Final results are expected later today.
