In general, Pondicherriens in France tend to remain with the centre, either with Les Republicains or the Parti Socialiste

Since France does not collect census data based on ethnicity, statistics on how French citizens of Indian descent vote in the mainland are scarce or not credible. Nevertheless, some insights may be gained through anecdotes.

There are a significant number of French people of Indian descent from Puducherry, many of whom live in France and some of whom reside in Puducherry. Those in Puducherry were generally loyal to the heirs of General Charles De Gaulle, namely the party of the right, Les Republicains, with the Parti Socialiste (PS) also gaining some traction there, Ms. Yamouna David a Puducherry-born advocate in France told The Hindu. The voting preferences of Indians in France are also influenced, through family ties, by the voting in Puducherry, according to Ms. David.

General De Gaulle was the founder of the Fifth Republic and its first president, and prior to that, leader of France Libre, the government in exile in London during 1940-44 when France was occupied by Nazi Germany. Known among the older Pondicherriens as “Papa De Gaulle”, he granted French citizenship to all those in Pondicherry shortly after World War II in recognition for their support to France Libre.

In general, Pondicherriens in France tend to remain with the centre – either with Les Republicains or the Parti Socialiste, although over time, as the population has integrated with the general French population, its voting preferences too have expanded across the spectrum, Ms. David said, adding that she herself voted for Jean-Luc Melechon in the first round of voting on April 23.

“I do believe we are in a world that cannot carry on without having an explosion of one type or another…the only political party that said this was a state of social and environmental emergency was La France Insoumise [Mr. Melenchon’s group],” Ms. David said. “Otherwise our children are going to die on the street one day through a revolution that is carried out with arms. I don’t want that. I would rather have a revolution through the political process.” Ms. David plans to vote for Mr. Macron in the second round – in order to keep Ms. Le Pen from winning - but hopes that La France Insoumise will have a strong presence in the National Assembly, elections for which will be held in June.

There are of course those who immigrated to France from India for employment or higher education and not as a direct consequence of citizenship practices of colonial governments. Although for language reasons, there was a preference for those who immigrated to choose English-speaking countries like the UK, the USA or Australia.

This group tends to have higher average incomes than the more economically diverse Pondicherriens, according to India-born Vinod Khosla, who holds a doctoral level degree in engineering and is the founder of the Indian Professionals Association in France. Usually this group too has voted for the political heirs of De Gaulle, Les Republicains, according to Mr. Khosla. “In this election they are for Mr. Macron.”