Puducherry

Supriya Jha

Also known as the French Riviera of the East, the Union Territory of Puducherry was granted the status of a Union Territory in 1963.

It comprises of four districts - Karaikal, Pondicherry, Mahe and Yanam.

Puducherry is the only UT which has a legislature of its own which has 30 elected members and three nominated ones.

Puducherry sends just one elected member to the Lok sabha.

Key parties active in Puducherry are Congress, BJP, AIADMK, DMK, DMDK, PMK and AINRC.

Puducherry has been under President`s rule six times.

Congress has been the most dominant party in Puducherry as it has won nine times.

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections be a four-cornered contest among AIADMK, DMK, PMK and INC for the Puducherry constituency.

Currently, V Narayanswamy of the Congress is representing Puducherry in the Lok Sabha.

P Kannan is another key Congress leader and the member of the Rajya Sabha from Puducherry.

V Omalingam is the AIADMK candidate from Puducherry, while the DMK has fielded AMH Nazim who is also the sitting MLA in Puducherry assembly from the Karaikal South constituency. PMK candidate from Puducherry constituency is RKR Anantharaman.