PUDUCHERRY : An estimated 80.5 per cent of the 9,73,410 voters in Puducherry exercised their franchise for the lone Lok Sabha, said Chief Electoral Officer V Candavelou.However, the figure would have gone up as polling went on till 9 pm at some polling booths. Though the percentage has dipped as against 82 per cent in 2014, more number of voters (approximately around 47,000) have voted since there was an increase of 73,000 more voters, said the CEO.
The voting percentage was 81.3 in Puducherry, 78.50 in Karaikal, 84.8 in Yanam and 67 in Mahe region. The female voters exceeded men with 4.15 lakh compared to 3.7 lakh male voters and 96 transgenders.
The rural areas in the Puducherry region and Yanam region and Nedungadu in Karaikal witnessed high polling at over 81 per cent. Mahe saw least polling at 67 per cent.
V Vaithilingam, Congress candidate, and K Narayanasamy of the AINRC, are the main contestants in the Lok Sabha election among the 18 candidates contesting the Puducherry Lok Sabha seat. While Vaithilingam is trying to wrest the seat for the Congress which lost it to the AINRC in the Lok Sabha election in 2014, Narayanasamy Kesavan is trying to retain it for the AINRC.
Poling, which began on a dull note initially, picked up momentum as the day advanced and again became sluggish by noon due to scorching heat. In the first two hours, it was just 10.2 per cent, but by 12 noon, picked up to around 31 per cent and by 4 pm, it picked up to 62 per cent. Puducherry saw brisk polling, particularly after 4 pm, and recorded the percentage of polling at 80-plus.