Template:Infobox official post 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]
Since 1963, Puducherry has had 10 chief ministers. The longest-serving and current chief minister, N. Rangaswamy 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. Rangaswamy of the All India N.R. Congress since 7 May 2021.[4]
Predecessors
Template:Further 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]
| No. | Portrait | Name Template:Small |
Term in office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||
| 1 | Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai (1906–1956) |
17 August 1955 | 13 January 1956 | 149 days | |
| 2 | Edouard Goubert (1894–1979) |
17 January 1956 | 24 October 1958 | 2 years, 280 days | |
| – | Vacant (25 October 1958 – 8 September 1959) | ||||
| 3 | 
|
V. Venkatasubba Reddiar (1909–1982) |
9 September 1959 | 30 June 1963 | 3 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]
Chief Ministers of Puducherry(1963-present)
- Key
- Template:Note label Resigned
- Template:Note label Dismissed by the Head of State
- Template:Note label Resigned following a no-confidence motion
- Template:Note label Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
.jpg)
- Timeline
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Define $today = 29/07/2026
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bar:Goubert bar:Reddiar bar:Farook bar:Vacant bar:Ramassamy bar:Ramachandran bar:Vaithilingam bar:Janakiraman bar:Shanmugam bar:Rangaswamy bar:Narayanasamy
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bar:Goubert from:01/07/1963 till:10/09/1964 color:inc text:"Edouard Goubert" fontsize:10 bar:Reddiar from:11/09/1964 till:08/04/1967 color:inc from:06/03/1968 till:18/09/1968 color:inc text:"V. Venkatasubba Reddiar" fontsize:10 bar:Farook from:09/04/1967 till:05/03/1968 color:inc from:17/03/1969 till:03/01/1974 color:dmk from:17/03/1985 till:07/03/1990 color:inc text:"M. O. H. Farook" fontsize:10 bar:Vacant from:18/09/1968 till:16/03/1969 color:vacant from:03/01/1974 till:05/03/1974 color:vacant from:28/03/1974 till:01/07/1977 color:vacant from:12/11/1978 till:15/01/1980 color:vacant from:24/06/1983 till:16/03/1985 color:vacant from:04/03/1991 till:03/07/1991 color:vacant from:25/02/2021 till:06/05/2021 color:vacant text:"Vacant (President's rule)" fontsize:10 bar:Ramassamy from:06/03/1974 till:28/03/1974 color:aiadmk from:02/07/1977 till:12/11/1978 color:aiadmk text:"S. Ramassamy" fontsize:10 bar:Ramachandran from:16/01/1980 till:24/06/1983 color:dmk from:08/03/1990 till:04/03/1991 color:dmk text:"M. D. R. Ramachandran" fontsize:10 bar:Vaithilingam from:04/07/1991 till:26/05/1996 color:inc from:04/09/2008 till:15/05/2011 color:inc text:"V. Vaithilingam" fontsize:10 bar:Janakiraman from:27/05/1996 till:21/03/2000 color:dmk text:"R. V. Janakiraman" fontsize:10 bar:Shanmugam from:22/03/2000 till:26/10/2001 color:inc text:"P. Shanmugam" fontsize:10 bar:Rangaswamy from:27/10/2001 till:03/09/2008 color:inc from:16/05/2011 till:05/06/2016 color:ainrc from:07/05/2021 till:end color:ainrc text:"N. Rangaswamy" fontsize:10 bar:Narayanasamy from:06/06/2016 till:25/02/2021 color:inc text:"V. Narayanasamy" fontsize:10
</timeline>
Statistics
- List of chief ministers by length of term
| No. | Name | Party | Length of term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest continuous duration | Total duration of chief ministership | ||||
| 1 | N. Rangaswamy | AINRC/INC | 6 years, 312 days | Template:Age in years and days | |
| 2 | M. O. H. Farook | INC/DMK | 4 years, 355 days | 10 years, 248 days | |
| 3 | V. Vaithilingam | INC | Template:Party color cell | 4 years, 327 days | 7 years, 215 days |
| 4 | V. Narayanasamy | INC | Template:Party color cell | 4 years, 264 days | 4 years, 264 days |
| 5 | M. D. R. Ramachandran | DMK | Template:Party color cell | 3 years, 159 days | 4 years, 155 days |
| 6 | R. V. Janakiraman | DMK | Template:Party color cell | 3 years, 299 days | 3 years, 299 days |
| 7 | V. Venkatasubba Reddiar | INC | Template:Party color cell | 2 years, 209 days | 3 years, 40 days |
| 8 | S. Ramassamy | AIADMK | Template:Party color cell | 1 year, 133 days | 1 year, 155 days |
| 9 | P. Shanmugam | INC | Template:Party color cell | 1 year, 218 days | 1 year, 218 days |
| 10 | Edouard Goubert | INC | Template:Party color cell | 1 year, 71 days | 1 year, 71 days |
- List by party
| No. | Political party | Number of chief ministers | Total days of holding CMO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian National Congress | 7 | Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". days |
| 2 | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 3 | 4763 days |
| 3 | All India N.R. Congress | 1 | Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[". days |
| 4 | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1 | 520 days |
- Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Chief Minister's Office
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See also
- History of Puducherry
- Elections in Puducherry
- Puducherry Legislative Assembly
- Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
- List of current Indian chief ministers
- List of speakers of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
- List of leaders of the opposition in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
Notes
References
- ↑ Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. Template:ISBN. Note: although the text talks about Indian union territory governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Puducherry as well.
- ↑ M O H Farook an astute politician(27 January 2012). Retrieved 5 February 2012.
- ↑ Edouard Goubert who holds a fascination for Francophiles in Puducherry. The Hindu(30 July 2014). Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ↑ Rangasamy sworn in Puducherry CM. The Hindu(7 May 2021). Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ↑ Treaty establishing De Jure Cession of French Establishments in India(28 May 1956). Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ↑ HT Archives: 140-year French rule ends, Pondicherry merges with India(2 November 2024). Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ↑ THE GOVERNMENT OF UNION TERRITORIES ACT, 1963(10 May 1963). Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ Section 54 in The Government Of Union Territories Act, 1963. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
External links
Template:Chief ministers of Puducherry Template:Chief Ministers of Indian States Template:Authority control