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All 30 seats to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Indian Union Territory of Pondicherry took place on 23 August 1964 to constitute the Second Assembly of Pondicherry . [1] These were the first Legislative Assembly elections after the formation of the new Union Territory. [2] The elections marked the end of the rule of Edouard Goubert in Pondicherry. [3]
The outgoing Legislative Assembly had 39 members (out of whom 25 belonged to the Indian National Congress, 11 to the People's Front (Makkaḷ Munnaṇi (Tamil:மக்கள் முன்னணி), 1 to the Praja Socialist Party and 2 independents). [4] [5]
As per The Union Territories Act, 1963, thirty members would be elected through direct suffrage. [6] [7] Before the Elections to the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly were held in August 1964, the constituencies were delimited by the Delimitation Commission (as per Delimitation Commission Act, 1962) and the entire territory was divided into 30 single-member constituencies-21 for Pondicherry region, 6 for Karaikal region, 2 for Mahe region and 1 for Yanam region. Out of these 5 seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes, [7] four in Pondicherry region and one in Karaikal region. [8] : 965
A total of 85 candidates contested the election. Three of the candidates were women (Saraswathi Subbiah of the People's Front, P. Angammal and Padmini Chandrasekaran from the Congress Party). [7]
In the run-up to the election, there was dissent within the local unit of the Indian National Congress over the nomination of candidates. [1] Until these polls Édouard Goubert had maintained control over the local Congress Party apparatus. Goubert had been pro-colonialist who had switched sides just as French power ended in Pondicherry. He had survived politically through political intrigues and maintaining the image that he could keep the communists from seizing power in the Union Territory. Now a group led by V. Venkatasubha Reddiar challenged his hegemony. Reddiar had been the Minister of Planning in the Pondicherry cabinet since 1954, and enjoyed the support by a sector of contractors and bootleggers. K. Kamaraj, the president of the Congress Party in the Madras State, was called on to heal the split. [3] The Madras State Minister for Industries R. Venkataraman (acting on behalf of the All India Congress Committee) was assigned the task to ensure that the party was reunited for the polls. [1] [4] The AICC wholeheartedly sided with Reddiar. Effectively Goubert's group was marginalised in the process. [3] The Congress Party contested all 30 seat in the election. [4] However, Goubert organised some of his sympathizers to contest as independents. [3] In total there were 38 independent candidates, including Goubert's followers. [3] [4]
Apart from the intra-Congress conflict, the main contender was the communist-led People's Front. The People's Front contested 17 out of the 30 seats. [3]
The Congress Party candidates obtained 91,338 votes (54.3%), the People's Front 30,495 votes (18.2%) and independents gathered 46,218 votes (27.58%). [4] One candidate, Kamishetty Sri Parasurama Vara Prasada Rao Naidu (Congress), was elected unopposed from the Yanam constituency. [7] 17 out of the 22 Congress candidates elected belonged to the Reddiar group, the remaining five were part of the Goubert group. Another three pro-Goubert independents were elected. [3]
Reddiar himself won the Nettapacom seat with 4,965 votes (83.54% of the votes in the constituency). Goubert won the Raj Nivas seat, with 2,722 votes (78.47%) [7] A fourth independent (unaffiliated with Goubert) also emerged victorious. Four People's Front candidates were elected, a result which was seen as a backlash for the communists. [3] Amongst the elected People's Front members was V. Subbiah, who won the Modeliarpeth seat with 3,878 votes (51.80%). [7]
The results of 1964 election were summarized below [9] : 38
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parties and Coalitions | Won | Votes | Vote % | Change | |||||
| Indian National Congress | 22 [note 1] | 91,338 | 54.3 | 1 | |||||
| People's Front | 4 | 30,495 | 31.6 |  9 | |||||
| Independent politician | 4 | 46,218 | 27.5 | 1 | |||||
| Assembly Constituency | Turnout | Winner | Runner Up | Margin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #k | Names | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |||
| 1 | Muthialpet | 81.41% | P. Shanmugam | INC | 1,726 | 33.06% | Thangaprakasam | Independent | 1,429 | 27.37% | 297 | ||
| 2 | Kurusukuppam | 72.81% | Padmini Chandrasekaran | INC | 3,605 | 53.23% | M. Murugesa Mudaliar | Independent | 3,168 | 46.77% | 437 | ||
| 3 | Cassicade | 71.05% | A. S. Kankeyan | INC | 1,799 | 39.98% | Kuppusamy Mudaliar | Independent | 1,182 | 26.27% | 617 | ||
| 4 | Raj Bhavan | 65.47% | Édouard Goubert | INC | 2,722 | 78.47% | S. Pakiam | Independent | 662 | 19.08% | 2,060 | ||
| 5 | Bussy | 65.11% | C. M. Achraff | Independent | 2,367 | 62.72% | Paul Ambroise | INC | 789 | 20.91% | 1,578 | ||
| 6 | Oupalam | 70.78% | G. Perumal Raja | Independent | 3,098 | 55.47% | D. Munisamy | INC | 2,487 | 44.53% | 611 | ||
| 7 | Nellithope | 72.56% | N. Ranganathan | IPF | 3,627 | 50.11% | R. T. Purushothaman | INC | 3,611 | 49.89% | 16 | ||
| 8 | Mudaliarpet | 82.77% | V. Subbiah | IPF | 3,878 | 51.80% | K. Srinivasan | INC | 3,609 | 48.20% | 269 | ||
| 9 | Ariankuppam | 78.18% | P. Rathinavelu | INC | 3,376 | 48.82% | V. Thulasingam | IPF | 3,135 | 45.34% | 241 | ||
| 10 | Kuruvinatham | 87.87% | K. R. Subramaniya Padayachi | Independent | 3,167 | 47.91% | R. L. Purushothaman | INC | 1,760 | 26.62% | 1,407 | ||
| 11 | Bahour | 79.68% | Thangavel Clamanso | IPF | 2,612 | 49.81% | A. Siva | INC | 2,405 | 45.86% | 207 | ||
| 12 | Nettapakkam | 88.20% | V. Venkatasubba Reddiar | INC | 4,965 | 83.54% | S. Ramaputhiran | Independent | 978 | 16.46% | 3,987 | ||
| 13 | Thirubuvanai | 77.95% | R. Kulandai | Independent | 3,698 | 61.93% | S. Thangavely | Independent | 2,273 | 38.07% | 1,425 | ||
| 14 | Mannadipet | 84.37% | Manickavasaga Reddiar | INC | 3,369 | 51.40% | M. Venugopal | IPF | 1,347 | 20.55% | 2,022 | ||
| 15 | Ossudu | 68.19% | N. Harikrishnan | INC | 3,027 | 55.07% | S. Perumal | IPF | 2,470 | 44.93% | 557 | ||
| 16 | Villianur | 81.30% | Thillai Kanakarasu | INC | 4,025 | 57.70% | M. Abdul Rahiman | IPF | 2,518 | 36.10% | 1,507 | ||
| 17 | Embalam | 79.00% | P. Angammal | INC | 4,924 | 79.83% | S. Andavan | IPF | 1,244 | 20.17% | 3,680 | ||
| 18 | Oulgaret | 79.46% | N. Damodaran | Independent | 1,144 | 18.64% | S. Govindasamy | INC | 2,511 | 40.92% | -1,367 | ||
| 19 | Kalapet | 79.37% | Jeevarathina Udayar | INC | 4,078 | 58.58% | P. Narayanasamy | IPF | 1,555 | 22.34% | 2,523 | ||
| 20 | Poudousaram | 72.93% | N. Gurusamy | IPF | 2,698 | 46.86% | G. Rajamanickam | INC | 2,426 | 42.14% | 272 | ||
| 21 | Cotchery | 83.69% | G. Nagarajan | INC | 4,313 | 70.34% | S. Sokalingame | Independent | 1,614 | 26.32% | 2,699 | ||
| 22 | Karaikal North | 80.80% | Farook Maricar | INC | 4,211 | 56.39% | M. Sembulingam | Independent | 2,033 | 27.23% | 2,178 | ||
| 23 | Karaikal South | 79.16% | Mohamed Ibrahim Maricar | Independent | 2,491 | 50.70% | Ramassamy Pillai | INC | 2,422 | 49.30% | 69 | ||
| 24 | Neravy T R Pattinam | 86.47% | Nagamuttou Pillai | INC | 3,222 | 56.80% | Ramassamy | Independent | 2,163 | 38.13% | 1,059 | ||
| 25 | Grand’ Aldee | 86.96% | V. M. C. Varada Pillai | INC | 3,544 | 70.58% | Pandarinathan | Independent | 1,477 | 29.42% | 2,067 | ||
| 26 | Thirunallar | 85.64% | Subarayalu | INC | 4,000 | 68.92% | Sathiamourthy | Independent | 1,772 | 30.53% | 2,228 | ||
| 27 | Nedungadu | 86.15% | P. Shanmugam | INC | 3,697 | 65.60% | Maric Paul Andre Alias Paul | Independent | 1,939 | 34.40% | 1,758 | ||
| 28 | Mahe | 90.18% | Valavil Kesavan | INC | 2,283 | 50.14% | I. K. Kumaran | Independent | 2,270 | 49.86% | 13 | ||
| 29 | Palloor | 92.18% | Vanmeri Nadeyi Purushothaman | INC | 2,436 | 64.62% | Poothara Narayanan | Independent | 1,334 | 35.38% | 1,102 | ||
| 30 | Yanam | - | Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu | INC | Elected Unopposed | ||||||||
A meeting of the members of Pondicherry Congress Legislature Party to elect its new Leader was held on 31 August 1964. R. Venkatraman, then Minister of Industries, Madras was presentin the meeting as Observer of the AICC. VenkataSubba Reddiar elected was unanimously elected Leader. [9] : 37
After the election the Congress Party formed a four-member cabinet led by Reddiar. [1] [3] Likewise Reddiar was elected, unanimously, as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the new assembly. [4]
Dadala Raphael Ramanayya was an Indian nationalist leader who was instrumental in the merger of the French territory of Yanam into the Republic of India.
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The City of Puducherry on the southeast coast of India does not have a recorded history from antiquity. Puducherry has history recorded only after the advent of the colonial powers such as the Dutch, Portuguese, English and the French. Nearby places such as Arikanmedu, Kakayanthoppe, Villianur, and Bahur, which were annexed by the French East India Company over a period of time and became the Union Territory of Puducherry after Independence, have written histories that predate the colonial era.
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After the de facto merger on 1 November 1954 and before the legal integration with the Indian Union on 16 August 1962, second general elections were held in August 1959 to constitute Second Pondicherry Representative Assembly.
After the merger of French settlements into an Indian union, a new assembly, named the Pondicherry Representative Assembly, was created by the government of India. After the "de facto transfer day" of 1 October 1954, before 16 August 1962 also referred to as "de-jure transfer day". During this transition period, general elections to the representative assembly were held in 1955 and 1959. After the de-jure transfer day, legal integration of French settlements into the Indian Union was complete. However, this assembly, like its predecessor, was advisory in its role, which led to frequent contention between the popular government and the chief commissioner.
The Second Assembly of PondicherryDeuxième Assemblée de Pondichéry succeeded the First Assembly of Pondicherry and was constituted after the victory of Indian National Congress (INC) and allies in the 1964 assembly election held on 23 August 1964. Venkatasubba Reddiar assumed office as 2nd Pondicherry. These were the first Legislative Assembly elections after the formation of the new Union Territory.
The Pondicherry Representative Assembly was converted into the Legislative Assembly on 1 July 1963 as per Section 54(3) of The Union Territories Act, 1963. All the 39 members who were elected by 1959 were deemed to have been elected to the First Assembly of PondicherryPremière Assemblée de Pondichéry.
The Second Representative Assembly of PondicherryDeuxième Assemblée Représentative de Pondichéry succeeded the First Representative Assembly of Pondicherry and was constituted after the victory of Indian National Congress (INC) and its ally in the 1959 assembly election held between 11 and 14 August 1959.
After the de facto merger on 1 November 1954 and before the legal integration with the Indian Union on 16 August 1962, general elections were held in 1955 and 1959. In January 1955, The Indian union government renamed the French settlements in India as State of Pondicherry by passing an order. The previous assembly that was elected during French rule was dissolved on 13 June 1955 and the first general elections to the Pondicherry Representative Assembly were held in next month from 18 to 23 July for 39 constituencies. The election were held on the basis of adult franchise under the State of Pondicherry Order, 1955 which prescribed the rules and regulations for the conduct of elections, more or less on the pattern adopted in the Indian Union.
