All arrangements in place for Thattanchavady bypoll in Puducherry on Tuesday

A polling booth for the Thattanchavady Assembly Constituency bypoll in Puducherry on Monday. | Photo Credit: KUMAR SS All arrangements have been made for conducting the polling for the byelection to Thattanchavady Assembly constituency in Puducherry on Tuesday.Polling will start at 7 a.m and will end at 6 p.m. By Monday afternoon, the polling staff along with EVMs were moved to all the 31 polling stations spread across 19 locations in the constituency. Security was tightened across the constituency, especially in the areas where polling booth are situated.Also read: Byelections 2026 LIVE updates- October 6, 2026Additional security was provided at the polling stations of Muthu Rathina Arangam Higher Secondary School in Koundanpalayam and Community Hall at Poiyankulam, Vinoba Nagar, as they were considered vulnerable booths.As per the final count, the constituency had 26, 921 voters, which is 305 electors more than those registered during the Assembly elections held in April 2026. Of the total electorate, 14, 341 are women, 12, 575 are men, and five others belong to the third gender category.In the Assembly elections, of the total 26, 616 electors, 23, 382 exercised their franchise. Chief Minister and AINRC founder N. Rangasamy had won the seat securing 10,024 votes. The seat fell vacant after Mr. Rangasamy decided to vacate it and retain the second constituency of Mangalam in which he had contested. There are 11 candidates in fray for the bypoll. The main contenders are Ashok Anand of the ruling All India N. R Congress, Sethu Selvam of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, E. Vinayagam of the Congress party, A.M. Saleem of the Communist Party of India, and Karthikumari of the Naam Tamilar Katchi. The remaining candidates are Independents. As the polling stations are mostly situated in schools, the Directorate of School Education has declared a holiday for the institutions on Monday and Tuesday. The counting of votes will be held on October 9 at the Motilal Nehru Government Polytechnic in Lawspet. Published - October 06, 2026 05:30 am IST