Kamal Ghorui
PUDUCHERRY: The All India NR Congress (AINRC)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has retained power in the Union territory of Puducherry. Counting of votes for the 30 assembly constituencies began at 8am on Monday. The 2026 assembly polls had recorded a historic voter turnout of 91.23%.NDA has won 18 seats (AINRC 12, BJP 4, AIADMK 1 and LJK 1). A total of 16 seats is required for a simple majority in the 30-member House. The INDIA bloc won six seats (DMK 5 and Congress 1). Several constituencies witnessed neck-and-neck battles, where margins remained extremely slim. Independent candidates won three seats.The newly formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor Vijay, won two seats while its alliance partner, Puducherry-based party, Neyam Makkal Katchi (NMK) won one seat. TVK candidates have secured a significant number of votes, impacting the winning margins between the two major alliances.AINRC founder and incumbent chief minister N Rangasamy has secured a comfortable victory in the Thattanchavady constituency, winning by a margin of 4,441 votes over his nearest rival E Vinayagam of NMK. This margin is notably wider than his 2021 performance. Congress candidate V Vaithilingam finished a distant fourth, polling 2,990 votes. Rangasamy also won the other constituency, Mangalam, in which he contested.Speaker of the legislative assembly and BJP candidate R Selvam, leader of opposition and DMK candidate R Siva, BJP president V P Ramalingame and Congress legislative party leader M Vaithianathan were some of the prominent candidates who lost the polls.
