2026 Puducherry Legislative Assembly elections were held on 9 April 2026 to elect all the 30 members of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 4 May 2026 by the Election Commission of India.
The election recorded a voter turnout of 89.87%, the highest ever for an assembly election in the union territory.
The National Democratic Alliance won a simple majority in the elections with an increased majority and N. Rangaswamy of the All India N. R. Congress was sworn in as the chief minister for the fifth time, with the alliance winning 18 of the 30 elected seats in the union territory.
The opposition Secular Progressive Alliance won only 6 seats with incumbent Leader of Opposition and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader R. Siva losing his own seat. The Indian National Congress was routed as it won only one seat, with its state chief and MP V. Vaithilingam losing his Election deposit and finishing fourth.
Background
Elections to a Legislative Assembly in India are usually held once in five years, and the members of the legislative assembly are directly elected to serve five year terms from single-member constituencies.
The tenure of Puducherry Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 15 June 2026. In the previous assembly elections held in April 2021, the All India N.R. Congress-led National Democratic Alliance formed the state government after winning 16 out of 30 seats in the assembly, with N. Rangaswamy sworn in as the Chief Minister.
In the later part of 2025, the Election Commission of India conducted a Special Intensive Revision after 24 years, to revise the electoral rolls.
Schedule
The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the election on 15 March 2026.
Parties and alliances
AINRC-led Alliance
The seat sharing for the National Democratic Alliance was finalised on 20 March 2026.
Secular Progressive Alliance
As per the seat-sharing agreement finalised on 23 March 2026, the Indian National Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) agreed to contest in 17 and 13 seats respectively. However, the Congress had already fielded candidates in five seats allocated to the DMK, which resulted in friendly contests between the two parties in these five constituencies.
The DMK allocated one seat from its quota to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). However, the VCK announced its exit from the alliance on 24 March 2026 citing seat-sharing disagreements. However, on 6 April, the VCK announced that apart from the Oulgret constituency allocated to it, it will support the coalition candidates in the other three seats, where it had already fielded candidates.
TVK–led Alliance
On 22 March 2026, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) announced its candidates for 30 constituencies in Puducherry. Subsequently, Neyam Makkal Kazhagam, led by G. Nehru Kuppusamy, joined the TVK-led Alliance and was allocated two seats.
SNMMK–AIPTMMK Alliance
On 20 March 2026, the S. Ramadoss-led faction of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, formed an alliance with All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AIPTMMK), led by V. K. Sasikala, for the assembly elections in Puducherry. On 25 March 2026, a seat-sharing agreement was signed between G. Sathiyamoorthy of Sengol Needhi Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam and Sasikala of AIPTMMK for the elections.
Others
On 7 March 2026, Naam Tamilar Katchi was the first party to announce its candidates for the elections, and announced its intention to contest in 28 of the 30 constituencies in the union territory. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India, which are part of the Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu, withdrew from the alliance and independently fielded candidates in four and two constituencies respectively.
Voting
According to the Election Commission of India, 9,50,311 voters were eligible to vote in the assembly elections in Puducherry. This includes 4,46,361 male, 5,03,810 female, and 140 third gender voters.
The polling was held on 9 April 2026 and the election recorded a voter turnout of 89.87%, the highest ever for an assembly election in the union territory.