Puducherry assembly election 2021 to be held on April 6, counting on May 2 | Complete schedule here
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won the only Lok Sabha seat of the Union territory.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the schedule for the assembly elections in the Union territory of Puducherry. During a press conference at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said that the assembly elections in UT, which is currently under presidential rule, will be held in a single phase on April 6, 2021, and counting of votes will be done on May 2, 2021.
Here's the complete schedule for Puducherry assembly polls:
Issue of notification: March 12, 2021
Last date of notification: March 19, 2021
Scrutiny of nomination: March 20, 2021
Last date of withdrawal of candidature: March 22, 2021
Date of poll: April 6, 2021
Counting of votes: May 2, 2021
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in the previous assembly elections, with the grand old party winning 15 seats and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) victorious on three in the 33-member assembly.
The coalition was also supported by an Independent legislator. Of the 33 members of the Puducherry assembly, 30 are elected directly by voters and three are nominated by the central government.
Read | 'Corrupt, liars!' PM Modi attacks DMK-Congress combine in TN, Puducherry
The single-phase elections took place on May 16, 2016, with a voter turnout of 84.11% being recorded. Counting of votes took place on May 19 with results being declared the same day.
V Narayanasamy became the chief minister and stayed in office till February 22, 2021, when he was unable to clear the floor test. The floor test was necessitated as the alliance lost its majority, losing as many as seven lawmakers since July 2020.
Of these, six were from the Congress and one from the DMK. Six MLAs, including two ministers, have resigned since January this year, resulting in the alliance’s numbers being reduced to 12. The effective strength of the assembly came down to 26, with 14 being the majority mark, the same figure as the strength of the opposition parties.
President’s rule was later imposed in the Union territory. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won the only Lok Sabha seat in the southern UT.
