Puducherry polls: 35.59 pc voter turnout till 11.30 am

Puducherry recorded a voter turnout of 35.59 per cent till 9.30 am across 30 constituencies, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The Thirunallar constituency in the Union Territory (UT) has witnessed the highest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 39.93 per cent till 11.30 am, while the Kalapet constituency witnessed the lowest voting percentage with a voter turnout of 26.62 per cent. Oussudu and Lawspet constituencies also reported voter turnout above 39 per cent.

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 compes of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed in the UT.

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.

( With inputs from ANI )