In Puducherry, the NDA has edged ahead in counting of votes for the Assembly polls on Sunday. At 11am on Sunday, the NDA was ahead in 11 of the 30 seats, with the Congress-led alliance ahead in only four seats.
The NDA in Puducherry consists of the All Indian NR Congress (AINRC), the AIADMK and the BJP. At 11am, N. Rangasamy, the founder of the NR Congress, was leading in the seats of Thattanchavady and Yanam, both of which he contested.
Rangasamy has been a three-time chief minister of Puducherry. He founded the NR Congress in 2011 and came to power in the elections that year.
At 11am, the AINRC was leading in seven of the 16 seats from which it contested. These were Embalam (candidate U. Lakshmikandhan), Kadirgamam (S. Ramesh), Karaikal North (P.R.N. Thirumurugan), Mangalam (Djecoumar C.), Thattanchavady and Yanam and Nedungadu (Chandirapriyanga).
The BJP was ahead in the seats of Kalapet, Kamaraj Nagar and Mannadipet. A Namassivayam, the BJP candidate contesting from Mannadipet, was one of the Congress MLAs who defected from the party in late January, leading to the collapse of the Congress-led government in the state. A. Johnkumar, another Congress leader who shifted to the BJP, was the candidate in Kamaraj Nagar.
Ironically, the Congress seems to struggling in early counting. The Congress, which was the single-largest party in the 2016 polls with 15 seats, is leading only in one seat.
M. Vaithianathan of the Congress is leading in Lawspet, which he won in the last election. DMK candidates are leading in Villianur, Oupalam and Karaikal South.
