Puducherry elections : All you need to know

Preparations for Puducherry Assembly polls were given final touches on Monday. As campaigning for assembly polls in Puducherry ended on Sunday, the election commission gave final touches to the preparations for voting in Puducherry. Here is a low-down of the elections in Puducherry.

Hyderabad:The countdown for the assembly elections in Puducherry that will seal the fate of 324 candidates across 30 constituencies has begun. Of the 30 assembly seats, five are reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates.

With campaigning coming to an end, both NDA and Congress have expressed confidence they will form the government in Puducherry.

During campaigning, while Rahul Gandhi held the reins of Congress in the Union Territory, BJP's camp witnessed high-profile rallies from an array of leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan too campaigned for his party in the UT.

BJP during its campaigning had projected the erstwhile Congress government as incapable and pushed the development agenda.

It promised 'special Union territory' status to Puducherry and to increase devolution of funds from 25 per cent to 40 per cent as done in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure development.

Congress on other hand, in its manifesto, promised statehood to the UT, waiving off all loans of the Puducherry government obtained from the Centre and the inclusion of the UT in the Central Finance Commission.

It also promised to bear the cost of COVID-19 vaccination for the people of the UT along with free education from primary to research level to the students of SC, ST, OBC, fishermen and girls in a phased manner.

Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), however, promised that it will ensure that all the basic needs of the people are met if it is elected to power.

Elections in Puducherry, which is currently under President's Rule, is mainly between the Congress - Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprising All India NR Congress, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Puducherry elections

It is pertinent to note that even in the 2016 election, Narayanasamy was not the choice of MLAs since he had not contested the Assembly elections. He had become the Chief Minister without contesting the polls and entered the Assembly by winning a by-election subsequently.

Among the key candidates of Congress, P Selvanadane will contest from Kardirgamam assembly seat, M Kannan from Indira Nagar, Karthikeyan from Oussudu, and Ramesh Preambath from Mahe.

Women candidates

N Rangasamy, the AINRC leader, is among the key contestants and is seeking election from two segments - Thattanchavady in Puducherry region and Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry, in Andhra Pradesh.

Key candidates

Polling for 30 assembly seats in Puducherry will be held on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Of the 30 assembly seats, five are reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates. A total of 10,04,507 electors will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 324 candidates in Puducherry.

Top 5 criminal candidates

Out of 323 candidates analysed, 36 are from National parties, 64 are from State parties, 108 are from registered unrecognized parties and 115 candidates are contesting independently.

Out of 323 candidates analyzed, 54 (17%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves. In the 2016 Puducherry Assembly Elections, out of 343 candidates analysed, 68 (20%) had declared criminal cases against themselves.

Candidates' crime record

Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 28 (9%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves. In the 2016 Puducherry Assembly Elections, 30 (9%) candidates had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 16 All India N.R. Congress candidates analysed is Rs. 10.79 Crores, 9 BJP candidates analysed is Rs 9.89 Crores, 5 AIADMK candidates have average assets of Rs 9.10 Crores, 13 DMK candidates have average assets of Rs 8.03

Crorepati candidates

Crores, 14 INC candidates have average assets of Rs 5.82 Crores and 26 DMDK candidates have average assets worth Rs 16.49 Lacs.

Among the major parties, 8(89%) out of 9 candidates analysed from BJP, 12(86%) out of 14 candidates analysed from INC, 13(81%) out of 16 candidates analysed from All India N.R. Congress, 4(80%) out of 5 candidates analysed from AIADMK and 9 (69%) out of 13 candidates from DMK have declared assets valued at more than Rs 1 crore.