N Rangasamy; V Vaithilingam

New Delhi: Counting of votes for Puducherry Assembly elections will take place on Monday. National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the All India NR Congress (AINRC), is seeking a second consecutive term in office.Counting of votes will begin at 8 am and considering that there are only 30 constituencies in the Union Territory, clear and conclusive trends are expected to emerge within a few hours.Voting took place in a single phase on 9 April, recording a historic turnout of 89.83%, surpassing the previous record set in 2011 – 85.57%.

Major battles to watch

N Rangasamy (AINRC) vs V Vaithilingam (Congress): The high-profile fight in Thattanchavady pits the sitting chief minister against a former chief minister, making it a decisive contest for the leadership of the Union Territory. Rangasamy, the sitting Thattanchavady MLA, is aiming for a fifth term as chief minister, having previously held the post twice as a Congress leader. Two-time former Chief Minister Vaithilingam currently heads the Puducherry Congress unit and represents Puducherry’s sole Lok Sabha seat.A Namasivayam (BJP) vs TPR Selvame (Congress): In the contest in Mannadipet, Puducherry Home Minister and sitting MLA A Namassivayam faces former Assembly Deputy Speaker TPR Selvam, who had earlier won the seat in 2011 and 2016, making it a closely watched battle.VP Sivakolundhu (AINRC) vs M Vaithyanathan (Congress) vs V Saminathan (TVK): Lospet Assembly constituency saw a three-way fight between Assembly Speaker Sivakolundhu, outgoing MLA Vaithyanathan and former Puducherry BJP president, 2021 runner-up Saminathan.A Johnkumar (BJP) vs L Sambath (DMK): Puducherry Minority Affairs Minister A Johnkumar defeated Sambath, the sitting MLA from Mudaliarpet constituency.Golapalli Srinivas Ashok (Congress) vs Malladi Krishna Rao (AINRC): In Yanam – a constituency of Puducherry under Andhra Pradesh – the contest is between outgoing MLA Golapalli Srinivas Ashok and veteran leader Malladi Krishna Rao, who held the seat for five consecutive terms from 1996 to 2016 (twice as an independent and thrice later with the Congress).