Chief Minister of Puducherry

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Chief Minister  of Puducherry
Putuccēri Mutalamaiccar
Emblem of the Government of Puducherry.png
Emblem of Puducherry
N Rangaswamy.jpg
Incumbent
N. Rangasamy
since 7 May 2021
Style
Type Head of government
AbbreviationCM
Member of
Reports to
Appointer Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
Formation1 July 1963;62 years ago (1963-07-01)
First holder Edouard Goubert
Website py.gov.in

The chief minister of Puducherry is the chief executive of the Indian union territory of Puducherry. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the lieutenant governor is a union territory's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, the lieutenant governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The lieutenant governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits. [1]

Contents

Since 1963, Puducherry has had 10 chief ministers. The longest-serving and current chief minister, N. Rangasamy from the All India N.R. Congress, held the office for over sixteen years in multiple tenures. The former governor of Kerala M. O. H. Farook has the second-longest tenure, and V. Vaithilingam from the Indian National Congress has the third-longest tenure. [2] The first holder Edouard Goubert from the Indian National Congress has the shortest tenure (only 1 year, 71 days). [3] There have been seven instances of president's rule in Puducherry, most recently in 2021.

The current incumbent is N. Rangasamy of the All India N.R. Congress since 7 May 2021. [4]

List

The French settlements in India were in a transition period between the de facto transfer day (i.e., 1 November 1954) and the de jure transfer day (i.e., 16 August 1962). In January 1955, the government of India, by an order, renamed these four French settlements in India as the State of Pondicherry. Both these transfer days are official holidays within the union territory of Puducherry. [5] [6]

Chief Counselors of Pondicherry
No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)		Term in office
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
1 Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai
(1906–1956)		17 August 195513 January 1956149 days
2 Edouard Goubert
(1894–1979)		17 January 195624 October 19582 years, 280 days
–Vacant (25 October 1958 – 8 September 1959)
3 V Venkatasubha Reddiar 2011 stamp of India.jpg V. Venkatasubba Reddiar
(1909–1982)		9 September 195930 June 19633 years, 294 days
Enactment of the Government of Union Territories Act

On 10 May 1963, the government of India enacted the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, which came into force on 1 July 1963. It introduced the same pattern of government that prevailed in the rest of the country, but subject to certain limitations. Under Article 239 of the Indian Constitution, the president of India appoints the lieutenant governor of Puducherry with such designation as he may specify to head the administration of the territory. The lieutenant governor appoints the chief minister. The lieutenant governor, on the advice of the chief minister, appoints the council of ministers. [7]

Also, the representative assembly was converted into the legislative assembly of Pondicherry on 1 July 1963 as per Section 54(3) of the Union Territories Act, 1963, and its members were deemed to have been elected to the assembly. Thus, the first legislative assembly was formed without an election. Elections for the assembly have been held since 1964. [8]

Key
Chief Ministers of Puducherry
  AIADMK (1)   AINRC (1)   DMK (3)   INC (7)
No.PortraitName

(Birth–Death)

Elected constituencyTerm of office [a] Assembly
(Election)		MinistryAppointed byPolitical party [b]
Assumed officeLeft officeTime in office
1 Edouard Goubert
(1894–1979)		 Mannadipet 1 July 196310 September 19641 year, 71 days 1st
(1959)		 Goubert S. K. Datta Indian National Congress
2 V Venkatasubha Reddiar 2011 stamp of India.jpg V. Venkatasubba Reddiar
(1909–1982)		 Nettapakkam 11 September 19648 April 1967 [RES] 2 years, 209 days 2nd
(1964)		Reddiar I S. L. Silam
3 M. O. H. Farook.jpg M. O. H. Farook
(1937–2012)		 Karaikal North 9 April 19675 March 1968 [RES] 331 daysFarook I
(2) V Venkatasubha Reddiar 2011 stamp of India.jpg V. Venkatasubba Reddiar
(1909–1982)		 Nettapakkam 6 March 1968 [§] 18 September 1968 [RES] 196 daysReddiar II
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 18 September 196816 March 1969179 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
(3) M. O. H. Farook.jpg M. O. H. Farook
(1937–2012)		 Kalapet 17 March 1969 [§] 3 January 1974 [NC] 4 years, 292 days 3rd
(1969)		Farook II B. D. Jatti Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 3 January 19745 March 197461 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
4 S. Ramassamy
(1939–2017)		 Karaikal South 6 March 197428 March 1974 [NC] 22 days4th
(1974)		Ramassamy I Cheddi Lal All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 28 March 19741 July 19773 years, 95 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
(4) S. Ramassamy
(1939–2017)		 Karaikal South 2 July 1977 [§] 12 November 1978 [DIS] 1 year, 133 days5th
(1977)		Ramassamy II B. T. Kulkarni All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 12 November 197815 January 19801 year, 64 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
5 M. D. R. Ramachandran
(1934–2024)		 Mannadipet 16 January 198024 June 1983 [DIS] 3 years, 159 days6th
(1980)		Ramachandran I B. T. Kulkarni Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 24 June 198316 March 19851 year, 265 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
(3) M. O. H. Farook.jpg M. O. H. Farook
(1937–2012)		 Lawspet 17 March 1985 [§] 7 March 19904 years, 355 days7th
(1985)		Farook IIIT. P. Tewary Indian National Congress
(5) M. D. R. Ramachandran
(1934–2024)		 Mannadipet 8 March 1990 [§] 4 March 1991 [NC] 361 days8th
(1990)		Ramachandran II Chandrawati Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 4 March 19913 July 1991121 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
6 V. Vaithilingam.jpg V. Vaithilingam
(b. 1950)		 Nettapakkam 4 July 199126 May 19964 years, 327 days9th
(1991)		Vaithilingam IHarswarup Singh Indian National Congress
7 R.V.Janakiraman2 (cropped).jpg R. V. Janakiraman
(1941–2019)		 Nellithope 27 May 199621 March 2000 [NC] 3 years, 299 days10th
(1996)		Janakiraman Rajendra Kumari Bajpai Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
8 P. Shanmugam
(1927–2013)		 Yanam 22 March 200023 May 20011 year, 218 daysShanmugam I Rajani Rai Indian National Congress
24 May 200126 October 2001 [RES] 11th
(2001)		Shanmugam II
9 N Rangaswamy.jpg N. Rangasamy
(b. 1950)		 Thattanchavady 27 October 200117 May 20066 years, 312 daysRangasamy I
18 May 20063 September 2008 [RES] 12th
(2006)		Rangasamy II Madan Mohan Lakhera
(6) V. Vaithilingam.jpg V. Vaithilingam
(b. 1950)		 Nettapakkam 4 September 2008 [§] 15 May 20112 years, 253 daysVaithilingam II Govind Singh Gurjar
(9) N Rangaswamy.jpg N. Rangasamy
(b. 1950)		 Kadirkamam 16 May 2011 [§] 5 June 20165 years, 20 days13th
(2011)		Rangasamy III Iqbal Singh All India N.R. Congress
10 VNarayanasamy.jpg V. Narayanasamy
(b. 1947)		 Nellithope 6 June 201625 February 2021 [NC] 4 years, 264 days 14th
(2016)		 Narayanasamy Kiran Bedi Indian National Congress
– Emblem of India.svg Vacant
( President's rule )		 N/A 25 February 20216 May 202170 daysDissolved N/A – N/A
(9) N Rangaswamy.jpg N. Rangasamy
(b. 1950)		 Thattanchavady 7 May 2021 [§] Incumbent4 years, 304 days 15th
(2021)		 Rangasamy IV Tamilisai Soundararajan All India N.R. Congress
Timeline
V. NarayanasamyN. RangasamyP. Shanmugam (Pondicherry politician)R. V. JanakiramanV. VaithilingamM. D. R. RamachandranS. RamassamyVacantM. O. H. FarookV. Venkatasubba ReddiarEdouard GoubertChief Minister of Puducherry

Statistics

List of chief ministers by length of term
No.NamePartyLength of term
Longest continuous durationTotal duration of chief ministership
1 N. Rangasamy AINRC/INC 6 years, 312 days16 years, 271 days
2 M. O. H. Farook INC/DMK 4 years, 355 days10 years, 248 days
3 V. Vaithilingam INC 4 years, 327 days7 years, 215 days
4 V. Narayanasamy INC 4 years, 264 days4 years, 264 days
5 M. D. R. Ramachandran DMK 3 years, 159 days4 years, 155 days
6 R. V. Janakiraman DMK 3 years, 299 days3 years, 299 days
7 V. Venkatasubba Reddiar INC 2 years, 209 days3 years, 40 days
8 S. Ramassamy AIADMK 1 year, 133 days1 year, 155 days
9 P. Shanmugam INC 1 year, 218 days1 year, 218 days
10 Edouard Goubert INC 1 year, 71 days1 year, 71 days
List by party
Parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO (7March2026)
No.Political partyNumber of chief ministersTotal days of holding CMO
1 Indian National Congress 711306 days
2 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 34763 days
3 All India N.R. Congress 13612 days
4 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1520 days
Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Chief Minister's Office
2,500
5,000
7,500
10,000
12,500
15,000
INC
DMK
AINRC
AIADMK

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period.
  2. ↑ This column only names the chief minister's party. The union territory government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.

References

  1. ↑ Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN   978-81-8038-559-9. Note: although the text talks about Indian union territory governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Puducherry as well.
  2. ↑ "M O H Farook an astute politician". NDTV. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Edouard Goubert who holds a fascination for Francophiles in Puducherry". The Hindu . 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Rangasamy sworn in Puducherry CM". The Hindu . 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 November 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Treaty establishing De Jure Cession of French Establishments in India". National Informatics Centre . 28 May 1956. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "HT Archives: 140-year French rule ends, Pondicherry merges with India". Hindustan Times. 2 November 2024. Archived from the original on 2 November 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  7. ↑ "THE GOVERNMENT OF UNION TERRITORIES ACT, 1963" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs . 10 May 1963. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2025. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  8. ↑ "Section 54 in The Government Of Union Territories Act, 1963". Indian Kanoon . Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
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