2019 Lok Sabha elections results for Puducherry: Congress wins sole seat in the state

Puducherry went to polls in the second phase of General Elections on April 18. Puducherry sends the only MP to the Lok Sabha which covers the entire Union Territory, which is a reserved constituency.

Congress candidate V Vaithilingam won by 197025 votes against Narayanasamy Kesavan of AINRC.

Senior Congress leader and assembly Speaker V Vaithilingam, doctor-turned-politician K Narayanasamy of All India NR Congress (BJP-led NDA ally) and M.A.S. Subramanian of the Makkal Needhi Maiam were the top contenders from the Union Territory.

READ: 2019 Lok Sabha Election Results: Modi-Nitish smash Bihar 'gathbandhan', bag almost all the state's seats

Historical trend:

Historically, Puducherry has been a Congress stronghold after the party won nine out of thirteen elections in the UT. However, in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, NDA’s R. Radhakrishnan won the sole seat by 60,854 votes, defeating Congress’ V. Narayanasamy, who is the current chief minister of Puducherry.

In 2014, the voter turnout for Puducherry stood at 82.10 per cent. In 2009 General Elections, Puducherry elected the Congress party . In the 2004 elections, M. Ramadass the founder and the candidate of the PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi) won from the seat.

With a total of 9,73,161 total electors in Puducherry, 5,13,799 are women and 4,59,266 are men. The union territory of Puducherry has a literacy rate of 86.55%

The vacant Thattanchavady assembly constituency also went to polls on April 18, with a battle between candidates P Nedunchezhian of the AINRC and K Venkatesan of the DMK. The seat fell vacant in last October after the sitting legislator and AINRC leader Ashok Anand was disqualified following his conviction by a CBI court for alleged accumulation of assets disproportionate to known sources of inc