The National Democratic Alliance, led by the All India NR Congress, crossed the majority mark as the votes were counted in the 2026 Puducherry Assembly elections on Monday.

The ruling alliance in the Union Territory won 18 seats, data from the Election Commission showed.

The Opposition Secular Progressive Alliance, mainly comprising the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, won six seats.

Actor-politician Vijay’s newly-founded Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam won two seats and its ally, Neyam Makkal Kazhagam, secured one win.

Although the Puducherry Assembly has 33 seats, three of its members are nominated by the Union government. They enjoy the same powers as the 30 MLAs who are directly elected.

The majority mark in the 30-member Assembly is 16. However, after the three members are nominated, a party or an alliance needs 17 seats to secure a majority.

The counting began at 8 am. All 30 constituencies in the Union Territory, which has 9.5 lakh voters, went to the polls on April 9. An all-time high voter turnout of 91.2% was recorded. The previous record was 86% in the 2006 polls.

In 2021, the National Democratic Alliance, led by the All India NR Congress, secured power, winning 16 seats. N Rangasamy had become the chief minister.

The polls were held after the Election Commission conducted a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Puducherry, besides 11 other states and Union Territories.

The number of voters in the Union Territory dropped by 77,367 after the exercise.

The total number of electors before the revision process commenced was more than 10.2 lakh. It shrunk to 9.4 lakh when the final rolls were published, marking a net change of 7.5%.