State
Union Territories

Pondicherry Legislative Assembly

Like any other Indian territory, the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly has its own history. Before independence, the Union Territory of Pondicherry was comprised of Pondicherry, Mahe, Karaikal and Yanam, which were actually under the rule of the French. These 4 enclaves were brought under the Indian Union just after the signing of the de-facto-treaty on 1st November 1954. Puducherry was brought together with the Indian Union on 16 August, 1962.

Soon the people began to demand for a popular government and the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 was enforced. The government pattern that was being followed in the other parts of the country was introduced here as well, but with certain limitations. Under Constitution’s Article 239, it is the President who appoints the Administrator as well as the Chief Minister. He/She also appoints the Ministers after consulting the Chief Minister.

The Puducherry Legislative Assembly has a unicameral legislature. The strength of the Legislative Assembly of Puducherry is 30 members. The members of the assembly are elected by the people of the state. The tenure for the Puducherry Legislative Assembly is 5 years until and unless it is dissolved earlier. The house is run by 16 Committees. The assembly has completed its 10th term and it will be completing its 11th term in 2011. The assembly summons a house twice a year and hence, it is having two sessions, Budget and Winter.

Currently, the Governor of Pondicherry is Shri Mukti Mithi. Thiru R. Radhakrishnan is the Speaker of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. The Dy. Speaker is Thiru A.V. Sreedharan and the house Secretary is Thiru M. Sivaprakasam. Shri N. Rangaswamy is the leader of the House with Shri A.M.H. Nazeem as the leader of the opposition. The last assembly election in Puducherry was held in 2006. The INC won 10 seats and the DMK was left short behind with 7 seats.

In the 2001 Puducherry Assembly Election, the INC had a similar poll result with 11 seats and it is followed by DMK with 7 seats. INC was declared the winner even in the 1991 and 1992 polls. Though DMK has proved itself to be a strong competitor of INC yet it ends up with much less seats than INC every time. INC has been winning the assembly poll election of Puducherry Legislative Assembly since 1985.