# 1996 Pondicherry Legislative Assembly election

Elections to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly were held in April 1996, to elect members of the 30 constituencies in Puducherry (then known as Pondicherry), in India. The Indian National Congress won the most seats, but the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won the popular vote, and R. V. Janakiraman was appointed as the Chief Minister of Puducherry.

## Results

| | Indian National Congress | 116,618 | 25.34 | 9 | 6 |
| | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 105,392 | 22.90 | 7 | 3 |
| | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 57,678 | 12.53 | 3 | 3 |
| | Tamil Maanila Congress | 42,485 | 9.23 | 5 | New |
| | Communist Party of India | 29,964 | 6.51 | 2 | 1 |
| | Janata Dal | 20,360 | 4.42 | 1 | 0 |
| | Pattali Makkal Katchi | 11,544 | 2.51 | 1 | New |
| | Others | 29,126 | 6.33 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | 47,126 | 10.24 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 460,293 | 100.00 | 30 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 460,293 | 96.43 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 17,036 | 3.57 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 477,329 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 633,635 | 75.33 | | |
| Source: ECI ||||||

## Elected members

Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituency :
| Assembly Constituency | Assembly Constituency | Turnout | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Winner | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Runner Up | Margin |
| #k | Names | % | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Party | Votes | % | Margin |
| 1 | Muthialpet | 69.96% | S. Anandavelu | | AIADMK | 11,009 | 56.26% | G. Palani Raja | | DMK | 8,098 | 41.39% | 2,911 |
| 2 | Cassicade | 66.08% | P. Kannan | | Independent | 6,501 | 63.21% | S. Narayanasamy | | INC | 3,195 | 31.06% | 3,306 |
| 3 | Raj Bhavan | 65.39% | S. P. Sivakumar | | DMK | 2,697 | 58.54% | A. Gandhirasu | | INC | 1,159 | 25.16% | 1,538 |
| 4 | Bussy | 60.37% | C. M. Achraff | | INC | 2,208 | 46.26% | A. Abdul Rachide | | CPI | 1,378 | 28.87% | 830 |
| 5 | Oupalam | 72.39% | S. Rathinam @ Manohar | | TMC(M) | 6,866 | 50.79% | U. C. Arumugam | | AIADMK | 5,866 | 43.39% | 1,000 |
| 6 | Orleampeth | 68.14% | R. Siva | | DMK | 8,105 | 49.16% | K. Parasuraman | | AIADMK | 5,107 | 30.97% | 2,998 |
| 7 | Nellithope | 69.88% | R. V. Janakiraman | | DMK | 8,803 | 52.31% | D. Ramachandiren | | AIADMK | 7,354 | 43.70% | 1,449 |
| 8 | Mudaliarpet | 71.54% | M. Manjini | | CPI | 11,380 | 49.69% | V. Sababady Kothandraman | | INC | 8,278 | 36.15% | 3,102 |
| 9 | Ariankuppam | 79.25% | S. Ramsingh | | PMK | 7,382 | 37.86% | T. Jayamoorthy | | DMK | 6,329 | 32.46% | 1,053 |
| 10 | Embalam | 78.31% | R. Rajaraman | | JD | 8,311 | 62.73% | K. Pakkiriammal | | INC | 3,454 | 26.07% | 4,857 |
| 11 | Nettapakkam | 83.58% | V. Vaithilingam | | INC | 7,563 | 54.86% | V. Muthunarayana Reddiar | | Independent | 5,036 | 36.53% | 2,527 |
| 12 | Kuruvinatham | 87.32% | T. Thiagarajan | | INC | 7,209 | 48.85% | R. Ramanathan | | MDMK | 7,022 | 47.58% | 187 |
| 13 | Bahour | 83.48% | M. Kandasamy | | TMC(M) | 7,921 | 51.95% | P. Rajavelu | | INC | 7,221 | 47.36% | 700 |
| 14 | Thirubuvanai | 79.23% | S. Arasi | | AIADMK | 5,707 | 37.08% | K. Jayaraj | | DMK | 5,586 | 36.29% | 121 |
| 15 | Mannadipet | 82.77% | K. Rajasegaran | | TMC(M) | 8,113 | 51.63% | N. Rajaram | | INC | 6,866 | 43.69% | 1,247 |
| 16 | Ossudu | 80.14% | V. Nagarathinam | | TMC(M) | 7,380 | 53.78% | N. Marimuthu | | INC | 5,232 | 38.13% | 2,148 |
| 17 | Villianur | 83.35% | C. Jayakumar | | TMC(M) | 12,205 | 64.56% | P. Anandabaskaran | | INC | 6,509 | 34.43% | 5,696 |
| 18 | Ozhukarai | 75.71% | K. Natarajan | | AIADMK | 7,794 | 41.10% | R. R. Somasundaram | | DMK | 6,252 | 32.97% | 1,542 |
| 19 | Thattanchavady | 72.14% | N. Rangaswamy | | INC | 9,989 | 42.95% | V. Pethaperumal | | JD | 7,699 | 33.11% | 2,290 |
| 20 | Reddiarpalayam | 62.82% | R. Viswanathan | | CPI | 17,206 | 65.58% | Na. Manimaran | | AIADMK | 5,966 | 22.74% | 11,240 |
| 21 | Lawspet | 71.79% | N. Kesavan | | DMK | 16,442 | 54.40% | M. O. H. F. Shahjahan | | INC | 10,211 | 33.78% | 6,231 |
| 22 | Cotchery | 78.37% | R. Nalamagarajan | | INC | 7,630 | 47.53% | G. Panjavarnam | | Independent | 5,968 | 37.17% | 1,662 |
| 23 | Karaikal North | 67.73% | A. M. H. Nazeem | | DMK | 9,474 | 71.01% | H. M. Abdul Kader | | AIADMK | 2,946 | 22.08% | 6,528 |
| 24 | Karaikal South | 75.45% | A. V. Subramanian | | INC | 6,676 | 57.48% | S. Savarirajan | | DMK | 4,717 | 40.61% | 1,959 |
| 25 | Neravy T R Pattinam | 78.01% | V. M. C. Sivakumar | | DMK | 7,595 | 53.44% | S. T. P. Diravidamani | | Independent | 4,385 | 30.85% | 3,210 |
| 26 | Thirunallar | 78.92% | R. Kamalakannan | | INC | 6,063 | 48.53% | A. Soundarengan | | DMK | 4,938 | 39.53% | 1,125 |
| 27 | Nedungadu | 83.17% | A. Marimuthu | | DMK | 6,899 | 54.93% | M. Chandirakasu | | INC | 5,116 | 40.74% | 1,783 |
| 28 | Mahe | 76.06% | E. Valsaraj | | INC | 4,184 | 45.58% | Manoli Muhammad | | Independent | 3,915 | 42.65% | 269 |
| 29 | Palloor | 74.44% | A. V. Sreedharan | | INC | 4,253 | 45.40% | Panangatil Khader | | JD | 2,929 | 31.27% | 1,324 |
| 30 | Yanam | 86.68% | Malladi Krishna Rao | | Independent | 8,445 | 62.31% | Velaga Rajeshwara Rao | | INC | 3,602 | 26.58% | 4,843 |