Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency

Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency covers the entire Union Territory of Puducherry. Pondicherry became a union territory after the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1962^[1] and changed its name to Puducherry in 2006.^[2] This constituency first held elections in 1967 and its first member of parliament (MP) was Thirumudi N. Sethuraman of the Indian National Congress.

Puducherry PY-1
Lok Sabha constituency
Interactive Map Outlining Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency
Constituency details
Country	India
Region	South India
Union Territory	Puducherry
Assembly constituencies	30: Mannadipet, Thirubuvanai, Ossudu, Mangalam, Villianur, Ozhukarai, Kadirkamam, Indira Nagar, Thattanchavady, Kamaraj Nagar, Lawspet, Kalapett, Muthialpet, Raj Bhavan, Oupalam, Orleampeth, Nellithope, Mudaliarpet, Ariankuppam, Manavely, Embalam, Nettapakkam, Bahour, Nedungadu, Thirunallar, Karaikal North, Karaikal South, Neravy T R Pattinam, Mahe and Yanam
Established	1967
Total electors	10,23,699 (2024)
Reservation	None
Member of Parliament
18th Lok Sabha
Incumbent V. Vaithilingam
Party	INC
Alliance	INDIA
Elected year	2024

History of the constituency

Sethuraman represented the Indian National Congress (Organisation) in the 1971 election, which he lost to Mohan Kumaramangalam of the INC. The next election in 1977 was won by Aravinda Bala Pajanor of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). P. Shanmugam of the INC won the 1980 election and was re-elected in 1984 and 1989. M. O. H. Farook also of the INC served two terms from 1991 to 1998. In the 1998 election, S. Arumugham of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was elected as MP. Farook was re-elected in 1999 to serve a third term as MP. The next election in 2004 was won by M. Ramadass of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). V. Narayanasamy of the INC was elected in 2009 and was defeated in the next election in 2014 by R. Radhakrishnan of the All India N.R. Congress. Radhakrishnan's victory was the first time that the Lok Sabha seat was won by a member of a Puducherry regional party.^[3] In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections Indian National Congress candidate V. Vaithilingam defeated All India N.R. Congress candidate Dr. Narayanasamy Kesavan by a record margin of 1,97,025 votes, this margin is the highest in the electoral history of Puducherry Parliamentary Constituency. Indian National Congress is the most successful party in this constituency by winning 10 out of 14 elections, in the other 4 elections, 2 times in 1977 and 2004 Indian National Congress party's alliance partners All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) won respectively.

Prior to independence, the colony sent a member to the French National Assembly.

Assembly segments

The constituency presently comprises all the thirty segments of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly.^[4]

Constituency number	Name	MLA	Party		Party Leading (in 2024)
Puducherry District
1	Mannadipet	A. Namassivayam		BJP		INC
2	Thirubuvanai	P Angalane		IND		INC
3	Ossudu	A. K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar		BJP		INC
4	Mangalam	C. Djeacoumar		AINRC		INC
5	Villianur	R. Siva		DMK		INC
6	Ozhukarai	M.Sivasankar		IND		INC
7	Kadirkamam	S. Ramesh		AINRC		INC
8	Indira Nagar	V. Aroumougam A. K. D.		AINRC		BJP
9	Thattanchavady	N. Rangaswamy		AINRC		INC
10	Kamaraj Nagar	A. Johnkumar		BJP		INC
11	Lawspet	M. Vaithianathan		INC		INC
12	Kalapet	P. M. L. Kalyanasundaram		BJP		INC
13	Muthialpet	J. Prakash Kumar		IND		INC
14	Raj Bhavan	K. Lakshminarayanan		AINRC		INC
15	Oupalam	Anibal Kennedy		DMK		INC
16	Orleampeth	G. Nehru		IND		INC
17	Nellithope	Richards Johnkumar		BJP		INC
18	Mudaliarpet	L. Sambath		DMK		INC
19	Ariankuppam	R. Baskar		AINRC		INC
20	Manavely	Embalam R. Selvam		BJP		INC
21	Embalam	U Lakshmikandhan		AINRC		INC
22	Nettapakkam	P. Rajavelu		AINRC		INC
23	Bahour	R Senthilkumar		DMK		INC
Karaikal District
24	Nedungadu	Chandira Priyanga		AINRC		INC
25	Thirunallar	P.R Siva		IND		INC
26	Karaikal North	P. R. N. Thirumurugan		AINRC		INC
27	Karaikal South	A. M. H. Nazeem		DMK		INC
28	Neravy T R Pattinam	M Nagathiyagarajan		DMK		INC
Mahe District
29	Mahe	Ramesh Parambath		INC		INC
Yanam District
30	Yanam	Gollapalli Srinivas Ashok		IND		BJP

Members of Parliament

Election	Member	Party
1967	Thirumudi N. Sethuraman		Indian National Congress
1971	Mohan Kumaramangalam
1977	Aravinda Bala Pajanor		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
1980	P. Shanmugam		Indian National Congress
1984
1989
1991	M. O. H. Farook
1996
1998	S. Arumugham		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
1999	M. O. H. Farook		Indian National Congress
2004	M. Ramadass		Pattali Makkal Katchi
2009	V. Narayanasamy		Indian National Congress
2014	R. Radhakrishnan		All India N.R. Congress
2019	V. Vaithilingam		Indian National Congress
2024

Election results

Vote share of winning candidates
2024			52.73%
2019			56.27%
2014			34.57%
2009			49.41%
2004			49.95%
1999			37.17%
1998			41.11%
1996			39.97%
1991			53.07%
1989			50.47%
1984			58.86%
1980			66.45%
1977			53.32%
1971			66.27%
1967			39.83%

General Elections 2024

2024 Indian general election : Puducherry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	V. Vaithilingam	426,005	52.73	3.54
	BJP	A. Namassivayam	289,489	35.83	N/A
	NTK	R. Meneka	39,603	4.90	2.01
	AIADMK	G. Thamizhvendhan	25,165	3.11	N/A
	NOTA	None of the above	9,763	1.21	0.33
Margin of victory			136,516	16.90	8.01
Turnout			807,940	78.92	2.33
Registered electors			1,023,699
	INC hold		Swing

General election 2019

2019 Indian general elections: Puducherry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	V. Vaithilingam	444,981	56.27	29.92
	AINRC	K. Narayanasamy	2,47,956	31.36	3.21
	MNM	Mohammad Subramanian	38,068	4.81	4.81
	NTK	N. Sharmila Beham	22,857	2.89	N/A
	Independent	N. Tamizh Marane	4,791	0.61	N/A
	Independent	M. Krishnamurthy	3,579	0.45	N/A
	BSP	A. G .Pathimaraj	2,689	0.34	+0.06
	Independent	Ims. Balaji Naikar	2,546	0.32	N/A
	AIMK	K. Arunachalam	2,201	0.28	N/A
	Independent	D. Ramesh	1,653	0.21	N/A
	PDDP	S. Baskaran	1,319	0.17	N/A
	SUCI(C)	U. Muthu	1,285	0.16	N/A
	Independent	S. Thangavelu	1,002	0.13	N/A
	Independent	Krishna Rajan Don	1,000	0.12	N/A
	CPI(ML)L	S. Mothilal	905	0.11	+0.05
	Independent	Tiravitamankai	870	0.11	N/A
	ACDP	S. Thirugnanam	674	0.09	N/A
	Independent	V. Ramamurthi	642	0.08	N/A
	Independent	K. Ramadass	543	0.07	N/A
	NOTA	None of the above	12,199	1.54	N/A
Margin of victory			1,97,025	24.91
Turnout			7,90,895	81.25
	INC gain from AINRC		Swing	+29.92

General election 2014

2014 Indian general elections: Puducherry^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	AINRC	R. Radhakrishnan	255,826	34.57	N/A
	INC	V. Narayanasamy	1,94,972	26.35	−23.06
	AIADMK	M. V. Omalingam	1,32,657	17.93	N/A
	DMK	A. M. H. Nazeem	60,580	8.19	N/A
	PMK	R. K. R. Anantharaman	22,754	3.07	−31.25
	CPI	R. Viswanathan	12,709	1.72	N/A
	AAP	V. Rangarajan	8,307	1.12	N/A
	Independent	Sanjivganthi S.	5,896	0.80	N/A
	Independent	P. Asaravel	3,472	0.47	N/A
	Independent	M. Ramadass	2,494	0.34	N/A
	BSP	S. Krishnamoorthy	2,060	0.28	−0.33
	Independent	S. Ezhilarasan	1,777	0.24	N/A
	Independent	G. Shanmugam	1,726	0.23	N/A
	Independent	Ramamurthi	1,442	0.19	N/A
	Independent	M. Chittibabu	1,340	0.18	−0.66
	Independent	S. Sudarsanan	1,270	0.17	N/A
	Independent	K. Ramadass	1,236	0.17	N/A
	Independent	J. Dhandapani	1,144	0.15	N/A
	Independent	K. Manjini	767	0.10	N/A
	Independent	Kaliayamurthy	747	0.10	−0.24
	Independent	V. Vijaya	746	0.10	N/A
	Independent	P. Bakkiaraj	610	0.08	N/A
	Independent	R. Valavan	497	0.07	N/A
	Independent	I. Senthil Kumar	477	0.06	N/A
	Independent	G. Sutha	467	0.06	N/A
	Independent	Puvala Nageswara Rao	465	0.06	N/A
	CPI(ML)L	G. Palani	438	0.06	−0.08
	Samata Party	Marie Uthrianathan	366	0.05	N/A
	JD(U)	S. Chitrakala	309	0.04	N/A
	Independent	P. Dhanarasu	198	0.03	N/A
	NOTA	None of the above	22,268	3.06	N/A
Margin of victory			60,854	8.22	−6.87
Turnout			740,017	82.10	+2.36
	AINRC gain from INC		Swing

General election 2009

2009 Indian general elections: Puducherry^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	V. Narayanasamy	300,391	49.41	N/A
	PMK	M. Ramadass	208,619	34.32	−15.63
	DMDK	K. A. U. Asanaa	52,638	8.66	N/A
	BJP	M. Visweswaran	13,442	2.21	−33.44
	Independent	M. Chittibabu	5,103	0.84	N/A
	Independent	V. Lingamurthy	4,179	0.69	N/A
	BSP	M. Somasundaram	3,697	0.61	+0.06
	Independent	Sivaraman V.	2,439	0.40	N/A
	Independent	Kaliamurthy K.	2,074	0.34	N/A
	Independent	V. Rajendran	1,810	0.30	N/A
	Independent	Manimaran	1,532	0.25	N/A
	Independent	V. Saravanan	1,425	0.23	N/A
	Independent	Veeramuthu A.	1,239	0.20	N/A
	CPI(ML)L	S. Balasubramaniam	839	0.14	−0.14
	Independent	G. Subramaniyan	757	0.12	N/A
	Independent	V. Ramamurthy	662	0.11	−0.21
	Independent	A. Rajasekar	656	0.11	N/A
	Pyramid Party of India	Pradeep Aniruddh	627	0.10	N/A
	Independent	Arunachalam K.	597	0.10	N/A
	Kamraj Desiya Congress	S. Govindaswamy	570	0.09	N/A
	JMM	S. Gnanavel	456	0.08	N/A
	Independent	P. Vijayabaskar	449	0.07	N/A
	Independent	R. Narayanan	422	0.07	N/A
	Independent	Murugaiyan K. S.	378	0.06	N/A
	Independent	Muppadai Mathimaharaja	378	0.06	N/A
	Independent	I. M. Sekar	375	0.06	N/A
	Independent	Mohamed Yousuf S. A.	298	0.05	N/A
Margin of victory			91,772	15.09	+0.79
Turnout			607,948	79.74	+3.67
	INC gain from PMK		Swing

General election 2004

2004 Indian general elections: Pondicherry^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PMK	M. Ramadass	241,653	49.95	+18.22
	BJP	Lalitha Kumaramangalam	172,472	35.65	N/A
	JD(U)	K. Nambiyar	27,546	5.69	N/A
	Independent	P. R. N. Thirumurugan	10,930	2.26	N/A
	Independent	Z. M. Taher	5,175	1.07	N/A
	Independent	Thanga Devadas	4,085	0.84	N/A
	Independent	S. Syad Faruk	3,172	0.66	N/A
	Independent	M. Rangadas	2,891	0.60	N/A
	BSP	Thanga Kalaimaran	2,665	0.55	N/A
	Independent	P. Anburaj	1,684	0.35	N/A
	JP	S. Ponnurangam	1,601	0.33	N/A
	Independent	V. Ramamurthy	1,571	0.32	N/A
	CPI(ML)L	S. Balasubramanian	1,359	0.28	N/A
	RJD	G. Sundaramoorthy	1,328	0.27	N/A
	Independent	N. Sabith	1,158	0.24	N/A
	Independent	N. Senthilmurugan	977	0.20	N/A
	Independent	E. Kuppan	906	0.19	N/A
	Independent	J. Ramadass	894	0.18	N/A
	Independent	S. Elangovan	673	0.14	N/A
	Independent	G. Krishnaraj	556	0.11	N/A
	Independent	R. Natarajan	520	0.11	N/A
Margin of victory			69,181	14.30	+8.86
Turnout			483,816	76.07	+12.80
	PMK gain from INC		Swing	+18.22

General election 1999

1999 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	M. O. H. Farook	165,108	37.17	+5.05
	PMK	M. Ramadass	140,920	31.73	N/A
	TMC(M)	P. Kannan	111,737	25.16	N/A
	Independent	Kalivardhan	9,452	2.13	N/A
	Independent	A. Ramalingam	5,562	1.25	N/A
	Independent	T. Ashok Kumar	5,179	1.17	N/A
	Independent	K. Padmarajan	2,700	0.61	N/A
	Independent	S. Paramasivam	2,155	0.49	N/A
	Independent	Surendra Kumar Gupta	1,349	0.30	N/A
Margin of victory			24,188	5.44	−3.55
Turnout			444,174	63.27	+0.41
	INC gain from DMK		Swing

General election 1998

1998 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	DMK	S. Arumugham	168,122	41.11	+1.20
	INC	P. Shanmugam	131,348	32.12	−7.85
	AIADMK	Lucky R. Perumal	102,622	25.10	N/A
	BSP	S. K. C. Guedjendirane	2,589	0.63	−0.24
	RJD	T. Sanjeevi	1,397	0.34	N/A
	IC(S)	D. Deenadhayalan	1,222	0.30	−0.53
	Ajeya Bharat Party	Balasami	736	0.18	N/A
	Independent	R. Sadhasivam	709	0.17	N/A
	Independent	G. Sarangam	173	0.04	N/A
Margin of victory			36,774	8.99	+8.93
Turnout			417,786	62.86	−12.49
	DMK gain from INC		Swing

General election 1996

1996 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	M. O. H. Farook	183,986	39.97	−13.10
	DMK	S. Arumugham	183,702	39.91	+4.10
	BJP	S. Thiyagarajan	20,351	4.42	+2.45
	PMK	Bavany Madura Cavy	19,792	4.30	+0.89
	MDMK	R. Balasubramanian	13,397	2.91	N/A
	Independent	K. Manivannan	8,801	1.91	N/A
	Independent	M. P. Mathimaharaja	7,425	1.61	N/A
	BSP	S. K. C. Guedjendirane	4,005	0.87	N/A
	IC(S)	D. Deenadayalan	3,819	0.83	N/A
	Independent	G. Thiruvengadam	1,922	0.42	N/A
	Independent	C. R. Tirougnana Sambandam	1,866	0.41	N/A
	JP	L. Vengataraman	1,823	0.40	−0.57
	Independent	Eswara Rao Geddam	1,795	0.39	N/A
	Independent	S. Dayalane	1,513	0.33	N/A
	Independent	T. Sivasubramanian	1,394	0.30	N/A
	Independent	T. Saravanan	1,392	0.30	N/A
	Independent	G. Elumalai	806	0.18	N/A
	Independent	V. Nadarajan	794	0.17	N/A
	Independent	S. Kamaraj	791	0.17	N/A
	Independent	K. Padmarajan	497	0.11	N/A
	Independent	P. Vijayakumar	451	0.10	N/A
Margin of victory			284	0.06	−17.20
Turnout			477,437	75.35	+7.64
	INC hold		Swing

General election 1991

1991 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	M. O. H. Farook	207,922	53.07	+2.60
	DMK	P. K. Lognathan	140,313	35.81	−5.84
	PMK	Bavani Maduracavi	13,375	3.41	−3.22
	BJP	J. R. Ramasami	7,728	1.97	N/A
	Independent	A. V. Ramakrishnan	5,223	1.33	N/A
	JP	K. Chandresekharan	3,802	0.97	N/A
	Independent	M. Arumai Selvam	3,499	0.89	N/A
	Tharasu Makkal Mandaram	D. Joseph Raj	3,421	0.87	+0.62
	Doordarshi Party	Awadh Kishore Bhaiya	2,323	0.59	N/A
	Pondicherry Mannila Makkal Munnani	S. Ramassamy	2,259	0.58	N/A
	Independent	P. K. Magappan	944	0.24	N/A
	Bharatiya Krishi Udyog Sangh	G. Thiruvengadam	548	0.14	N/A
	Independent	Amaan Khan	426	0.11	N/A
Margin of victory			67,609	17.26	+8.44
Turnout			401,741	67.71	+1.00
	INC hold		Swing

General election 1989

1989 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	P. Shanmugam	190,562	50.47	−8.39
	DMK	N. Manimaran	157,250	41.65	+5.58
	PMK	Bavany Maduracayy	25,021	6.63	N/A
	Lok Dal (Bahugana)	C. Balamuthuval	965	0.26	N/A
	Tharasu Makkal Mandaram	P. D. Panneer Salvan	943	0.25	N/A
	Independent	R. Aranganathan	723	0.19	N/A
	Independent	M. Kandeeban	538	0.14	N/A
	Independent	G. Thiruvengadam	503	0.13	N/A
	Independent	M. Manimaran	440	0.12	N/A
	Independent	Davulury Nageswara Rao	345	0.09	N/A
	Independent	Kanakmull Jain	298	0.08	N/A
Margin of victory			33,312	8.82	−13.97
Turnout			383,306	66.71	−5.57
	INC hold		Swing

General election 1984

1984 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	P. Shanmugam	159,376	58.86	−7.59
	DMK	C. P. Thirunavukkarasu	97,672	36.07	N/A
	Independent	S. Ramassamy	6,190	2.29	N/A
	Independent	A. L. N. Kumarassamy	1,925	0.71	N/A
	IC(S)	S. Sukumaran	1,794	0.66	N/A
	Independent	N. Ramu	1,261	0.47	N/A
	Independent	P. Rajasegaran	873	0.32	N/A
	Independent	N. Gajendra Baskara	664	0.25	N/A
	Independent	V. T. R. Veerappa Gounder	604	0.22	N/A
	Independent	Angappan alias Rousseau Angappan	422	0.16	N/A
Margin of victory			61,704	22.79	−17.00
Turnout			275,654	72.28	−8.08
	INC gain from INC(I)		Swing

General election 1980

1980 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC(I)	P. Shanmugam	164,589	66.45	N/A
	JP	M. R. Lakshminarayanan	66,025	26.66	N/A
	JP(S)	P. Devaraj	17,067	6.89	N/A
Margin of victory			98,564	39.79	+30.91
Turnout			256,539	80.36	+6.73
	INC(I) gain from AIADMK		Swing

General election 1977

1977 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	AIADMK	A. Bala Pajanor	115,302	53.32	New
	INC(O)	Ansari Duraisamy	96,101	44.44	+16.48
	Independent	Ramu alias Subramanian N.	3,921	1.81	N/A
	Independent	Gadjindra Baskar	920	0.43	N/A
Margin of victory			19,201	8.88	−29.43
Turnout			219,560	73.63	+3.53
	AIADMK gain from INC		Swing

General election 1971

1971 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC(R)	Mohan Kumaramangalam	112,714	66.27	+26.44
	INC(O)	Thirumudi N. Sethuraman	47,550	27.96	N/A
	Independent	A. Balasubramanian	6,745	3.97	N/A
	Independent	D. Krishnasamy	3,079	1.81	N/A
Margin of victory			65,164	38.31	+31.75
Turnout			172,992	70.10	−4.75
	INC(R) hold		Swing	+26.44

General election 1967

1967 Indian general election: Pondicherry^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	INC	Thirumudi N. Sethuraman	63,286	39.83
	Independent	S. Sadagopan	52,861	33.27
	Peoples Front	K. Subbiah	42,725	26.89
Margin of victory			10,425	6.56
Turnout			162,193	74.85
	INC win (new seat)

See also

• List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha
• Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• List of chief ministers of Puducherry
• List of Rajya Sabha members from Puducherry