The union territory of Puducherry may be small geographically, but it has received intense political attention from the BJP, which has been keen to get another strong foothold in southern India.
The union territory went to polls ahead of schedule, as the Congress-led government lost the majority in the 33-member assembly following a series of resignations. The fight is between the ruling Congress-led Secular Democratic Progressive Alliance and the All India NR Congress-BJP alliance.
Around 81.69% of Puducherry’s 10 lakh electorate turned out to vote on April 6. It was lower than the turnout of 84.03% in the last assembly elections in 2016. The highest turnout was 90.95% recorded in the Yanam assembly constituency.
Congress has fielded candidates in 14 seats, followed by DMK and one each by CPI and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). The ruling alliance is also supporting an independent in one constituency.
The AINRC, led by former chief minister N. Rangasamy, has fielded 16 candidates, with BJP in nine and AIADMK in five.
During the last assembly elections, Congress had got a vote share of 30.6% of the votes, winning 15 seats. Its alliance partner, DMK, gained 8.82% of the vote. AINRC had been a close second in vote share, with 28.12%, but it won only eight seats.
According to Frontline, the BJP’s interest in the union territory became apparent after it started to nominate its office-bearers to the three nominated seats in the assembly, accounting for 10% of the chamber. Earlier, the appointed members used to be recommended by the government, but Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi appointed three BJP members to the assembly.
As per the ABP-C-Voter exit poll, the AIRNC-BJP alliance will win comfortably, with over 19 to 23 seats. The Congress-led coalition, which is battling incumbency despite the chief minister V. Narayanswamy not contesting, has been projected to get only six to 10 seats.
The SDP alliance’s vote share is likely to dip to 34.2% from 39% in 2016, as per the exit poll. However, NDA’s votes are predicted to increase dramatically to 47.1%, projected ABP-C-Voter.
However, the NDA will have to surf through rocky waters after their projected win. AINR Congress has repeatedly made it clear that Rangasamy will be the chief minister, while BJP leaders have asserted that it will be decided after the results.