4 min readNew DelhiMay 5, 2026 08:54 AM IST
First published on: May 4, 2026 at 06:44 PM IST
Puducherry Election Results 2026: With voting underway in the Puducherry Assembly Elections, the National Democratic Alliance — comprising the All India NR Congress, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the BJP and the Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (LJK) — is set to return to power.
The election witnessed a record voter turnout of 89.87%, the highest-ever for a Puducherry assembly election. The two-way contest pitted NDA against the Congress-DMK alliance, with the fledgling TVK — founded by actor-politician Vijay and which contested all 30 seats — threatening to play spoilsport.
The AINRC won 12 seats, the BJP won four, while the ADMK and LJK have each won a single seat.
Chief Minister N Rangaswamy retained his seat in Thattanchavady and is set to serve a historic fifth term in the post. Here is what to know about the man, dubbed “Junior Kamaraj”.
A man of simplicity
N Rangaswamy, 75, has degrees in commerce and law. Inspired by K Kamaraj, he quit practising law to pursue a political career. He has sought to emulate the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and former Congress president in other ways – Rangaswamy, too, is known for his austere lifestyle and accessibility to people. He has often chosen to commute on his signature Yamaha RX 100, and famously rode the bike to cast his vote in the 2016 and 2026 elections.
Rangaswamy’s supporters have sought to highlight this quality, stressing his identity as a politician who has adapted to and endured for over three decades in a volatile UT without dynastic support or a national party machinery to back him.
What has worked for the CM is his government’s track record of welfare and development schemes, including pension schemes for the elderly that pay Rs 2,500-4,000, as well as Rs 2,500 cash assistance to women heads of households. His government has also revived the public distribution system (PDS) in Puducherry, while he has taken credit for job creation in his last term.
“We have filled about 5,000 vacancies in five years,” he told The Indian Express in April, promising to create 1,000 more jobs if his government returns.
From Congress to NR Congress
Rangaswamy first contested the 1990 Puducherry assembly election and was elected as the Congress MLA from Thattanchavady constituency four consecutive times. He also served as a cabinet minister over this decade under three different chief ministers.
In 2001, Rangaswamy became the Chief Minister of Puducherry and was reappointed to the post in 2006 after Congress won the assembly elections that year. However, he was forced to step down as CM in 2008 over differences with the party. Ahead of the 2011 Assembly elections, he quit the Congress, citing irreconcilable differences and launched the NRC.
This move proved successful, and he returned as Chief Minister, a post he served until 2016. While he emerged victorious in 2016, the NRC had stood alone and won only eight seats, and he resigned as CM that June. He served as the opposition leader until 2021. Ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, the NRC joined the NDA, which emerged victorious, and returned him as Chief Minister for the fourth time.
Why Rangaswamy’s victory is significant
Puducherry has a history of unstable politics, with governments collapsing mid-term, alliances fracturing and a constant tug-of-war between the Chief Minister’s office and the centrally-appointed Lieutenant-Governor (LG), resulting in constitutional crises. Being a UT, Puducherry has operated in a limiting framework that places administrative authority with the LG, a fact reinforced by a 2018 Supreme Court ruling.
Rangaswamy acknowledged this challenge and called for synergy between the Centre and the UT. “Only if the party that is running the Government of India is also part of the government here, development can happen,” he told The Indian Express.
Rangaswamy’s return as Chief Minister for the fifth time assumes even more significance given the NDA’s attempts to consolidate its share in the UT, once a Congress bastion, and the larger South. However, the UT’s long-held demand for statehood, one that he himself has reiterated, remains unaddressed.
Rangaswamy’s return as Chief Minister for the fifth time assumes even more significance given the NDA’s attempts to consolidate its share in the UT, once a Congress bastion, and the larger South. (X/AINRC) 
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