Puducherry polls: 14.01 per cent voter turnout till 9.30 am

Apr 06, 2021

Puducherry [India], April 6 : Puducherry recorded a voter turnout of 14.01 per cent till 9.30 am across 30 constituencies during assembly polls, according to the Election Commission (EC).
The Lawspet constituency in the Union Territory (UT) has witnessed the highest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 18.89 per cent till 9.30 am, while the Kalapet constituency witnessed the lowest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 13.72 per cent. The EC is yet to update voting percentage data from Ariankuppam, Manavely and Nelliyhope constituencies.
The polling for assembly elections in the states of West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, along with Puducherry began at 7 am on Tuesday and is currently underway.
Among the senior political leaders who voted today are -- former Puducherry CM and Congress leader V Narayanasamy, BJP Puducherry President, V Saminathan and NR Congress chief N Rangaswamy.
A total of 10,04,507 electors will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 324 candidates across 30 constituencies of Puducherry. The voting will be held on 8,998 polling stations and 556 of them are all-women polling stations.
For the elections, as many as 1,558 polling stations, including 952 main and 606 auxiliary polling stations, have been set up in the UT in 635 locations.
A total of 34 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed in the UT.
Along with that, the EC has also constituted 105 flying squads, 105 static surveillance teams, 26 rolling
The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
The election, in the union territory, is a keen contest between the Congress-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).
The Congress-led alliance consists of Congress, contesting 15 seats, followed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which will fight on 13 seats along with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), each of which will be contesting on one seat.
The NR Congress (AINRC) is contesting 16 of the 30 seats, while the BJP is contesting on 9 seats and AIADMK 14.