Puducherry’s 9.5 lakh voters will decide the fate of 294 candidates in the Assembly elections on April 9, covering all 30 seats in the union territory, including Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam. Chief Electoral Officer P Jawahar said all arrangements have been made for smooth and fair conduct of the polls. The electoral contest features major alliances and newly floated parties. The ruling NDA, comprising AINRC, BJP, AIADMK, and LJK, is seeking to retain its ‘double engine’ governance, while the opposition INDIA bloc, led by the Congress, DMK, and VCK, is trying to regain power, focusing on issues like local autonomy and administrative friction. Actor Vijay’s newly formed TVK party has fielded candidates across the union territory, emerging as a notable third force, while smaller parties such as CPI, CPM, and Naam Tamizhar Katchi are also in the fray. Among the key candidates is AINRC leader and chief minister N Rangasamy, contesting from Thattanchavady and Mangalam constituencies.Follow for full assembly election 2026 coverage Of the 1,099 polling stations, 209 have been marked as vulnerable. Special arrangements include 30 booths managed exclusively by women staff, 15 by young officers, and two operated by persons with disabilities. Senior citizens and differently-abled voters will be assisted by volunteers, and wheelchairs will be available at polling stations.Full list of candidates
| S.No | Constituencies | NDA | Congress-DMK | TVK-NMK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mannadipet | A Namassivayam (BJP) | DPR Selvam (INC) | K Bharathidasan (TVK) |
| 2 | Thirubhuvanai (SC) | B Gopika (AINRC) | P Angalan (DMK) | Sai J Sarvanakumar (TVK) |
| 3 | Ossudu (SC) | E Theeppainthan (BJP) | P Karthikeyan (INC) | S Saraganabava (TVK) |
| 4 | Mangalam | N Rangasamy (AINRC) | SS Rangan (DMK) | MK Sathya (TVK) |
| 5 | Villianur | Ravi Kumar (AINRC) | R Siva (DMK) | R Ramesh (TVK) |
| 6 | Ozhukarai | Dr Narayanasamy (AINRC) | — | S Sasibalan (TVK) |
| 7 | Kadirgamam | Ramesh (AINRC) | P Vadivelu (DMK) | R Jayanthi (TVK) |
| 8 | Indira Nagar | AKD Arumugam (AINRC) | N Raja Kumar (INC) | S Murugan (TVK) |
| 9 | Thattanchavady | N Rangasamy (AINRC) | V Vaithilingam (INC) | E Vinayagam (NMK) |
| 10 | Kamaraj Nagar | Jose Charles Martin (LJK) | PK Devadas (INC) | R Suman (TVK) |
| 11 | Lawspet | VP Sivakolunthu (AINRC) | M Vaidyanathan (INC) | V Saminathan (TVK) |
| 12 | Kalapet | PML Kalyanasundaram (BJP) | A Senthil (DMK) | D Sasikumar (TVK) |
| 13 | Muthialpet | V Manikandan (AINRC) | L Sambath (DMK) | J Prakash Kumar (TVK) |
| 14 | Raj Bhavan | VP Ramalingam (BJP) | Vignesh Kannan (DMK) | VJ Chandran (TVK) |
| 15 | Oupalam | A Anbalagan (AIADMK) | V Annibal Kennedy (DMK) | S Siva (TVK) |
| 16 | Orleampeth | A Gandhi (AIADMK) | S Gopal (DMK) | G Nehru (NMK) |
| 17 | Nellithope | A Djeacoumar (LJK) | V Karthikeyan (DMK) | S Vigneshwaran (TVK) |
| 18 | Mudaliarpet | A Johnkumar | G Rajendran (INC) | N Manibalan (TVK) |
| 19 | Ariankuppam | C Aiyappan (AINRC) | J Vijayalakshmi (INC) | S Kumaravelu (TVK) |
| 20 | Manavely | Embalam R Selvam | RKR Anandaraman (INC) | B Ramu (TVK) |
| 21 | Embalam (SC) | E Mohandoss (AINRC) | M Kandasamy (INC) | V Tamilselvan (TVK) |
| 22 | Nettapakkam (SC) | P Rajavelu (AINRC) | G Anparasan (INC) | L Periyasamy (TVK) |
| 23 | Bahour | T Thiagarajan (AINRC) | RR Senthilkumar (DMK) | N Dhanavelu (TVK) |
| 24 | Nedungadu (SC) | Chandira Priyanga (AINRC) | Dinesh Kumar (INC) | U Kamaraj (TVK) |
| 25 | Thirunallar | GNS Rajasekaran | R Kamalakannan (INC) | A Raja Mohammad (TVK) |
| 26 | Karaikal North | PRN Thirumurugan (AINRC) | AM Ranjith (INC) | A Venkatesh (TVK) |
| 27 | Karaikal South | M Arulmurugan | AMH Nazeem (DMK) | KAU Asana (TVK) |
| 28 | Neravy TR Pattinam | TKSM Meenatchisundaram | M Nagathiyagarajan (DMK) | G Ganesh (TVK) |
| 29 | Mahe | A Dineshan | Ramesh Parambath (INC) | M Brijesh (TVK) |
| 30 | Yanam | Malladi Krishna Rao (AINRC) | Srinivas Ashok (INC) | A Thitta Raju (TVK) |
