Lok Sabha Election 2019, Puducherry profile: Congress likely to pull out all the stops to retain lone seat

One of the tiniest Union Territories of India, the enclave of Puducherry is divided into four different areas. Puducherry district covers most of the areas coming under the Union Territory. Karaikal, which lies on the coast of Bay of Bengal, is another district. Yanam and Mahe, on the other hand, are tiny enclaves surrounded by Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively. Currently, in the news for the political tug of war between Lt-Governor Kiran Bedi and Congress chief minister V Narayanaswamy, Puducherry has generally been a Congress stronghold. The ruling Congress has 15 seats in the Assembly, while its ally the DMK has two. As per the seat sharing deal between the Congress and DMK, Puducherry seat will be contested by the former. Here is a brief look at the Puducherry Lok Sabha seat, which will be voting to elect its representative on 18 April. Puducherry Lok Sabha Constituency Total electors:  9,59,566 (2019 estimates) Female electors: 4,53,153 Male electors: 5,06,320 Reserved: No Delimited: No Assembly Constituencies: There are 30 seats in the Puducherry Assembly. Embalom, Nettapakkam, Thirubuvanai, Ossudu, Nedungadu Assembly Constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. Results in last four elections: In the last four elections, the Congress has won the seat twice while the PMK, which was part of the Congress-led UPA between 2004 and 2009, won the seat in 2004 elections. A splinter group of the Congress, the AINRC, won the seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha as part of the NDA. Demographics profile: The Union Territory is dominated by Vanniyars, who are also influential in the northern parts of Tamil Nadu. Vanniyars form at least 30 percent of the population. Dalits constitute nearly 15 percent of the population. However, several reports in the past have also highlighted their inability to influence the election due to the dominance of non-Dalit castes. Yanam, surrounded by Andhra Pradesh, has Telugu speakers while Mahe, an enclave in Kerala, has Malayalam speakers. As per 2011 Census, Muslims and Christians constitute a little over 12 percent of the population. This constituency is largely urban with over 2/3rd of the population residing in urban centres.