A third straight win for Congress
What happened
The party governing Puducherry won again, this time gaining ground.
The Indian National Congress won 15 of the seats on offer.
It had now won 3 elections here in a row.
That was a gain of 4 seats.
Its vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — rose +5.0 pp.
What changed
The party that had been runner-up last time fell back sharply, along with the previous election's debutant.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam returned to second place with 6 seats.
Its own vote share barely moved, down -0.8 pp from before.
Across the territory, 18 of the 30 seats changed hands from the previous election.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that election stand out.
The closest race anywhere was in Raj Bhavan, Puducherry, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, over whoever came second — of just 49 votes.
The widest margin was in Thattanchavady, Puducherry, at 40.3% of the vote.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — was highest in Yanam, Puducherry, at 82.7%.
It was lowest in Bussy, Puducherry, at 53.8%.
The backdrop
Congress's run continued even as turnout fluctuated from one Puducherry election to the next.