Counting of votes begins in Puducherry

PUDUCHERRY: Counting of votes polled for the 30-member Puducherry assembly began here this morning amid tight security.

A total of 344 candidates, including 96 independents, are in the fray in the polls held on May 16.

Three-tier security has been put in place at the counting centres.

Prominent among the contestants are Chief Minister N Rangasamy (AINRC), his cabinet colleagues, leader of the opposition V Vaithilingam (Congress), Speaker V Sbapathy, former Rajya Sabha member P Kannan (AIADMK) and PCC leader A Namassivayam.

AINRC, AIADMK, BJP and PMK have contested on their own while the Congress in alliance with DMK.

Puducherry registered 84.8 per cent polling, 2.11 per cent less than the turnout in 2011.