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 typically invites the party or coalition that holds a majority of seats to form the government as he is the ceremonial head. The president of India appoints the chief minister, along with their council of ministers, is collectively responsible to the assembly. As long as the chief minister maintains the assembly's confidence, their term lasts for five years and is not subject to any term limits.Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. . Note: although the text talks about Indian union territory governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Puducherry as well.
Since 1963, Puducherry has had 10 chief ministers. The longest-serving and current chief minister, N. Rangasamy from the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), held the office for over seventeen years in multiple tenures. M. O. H. Farook and V. Vaithilingam from the Indian National Congress (INC) have the second- and third-longest tenures, respectively. The first holder Edouard Goubert from the INC has the shortest tenure (only 1 year, 71 days). There have been seven instances of president's rule in Puducherry, most recently in 2021, which occurred due to political instability and the inability of the legislative assembly to function effectively.
The current incumbent is N. Rangasamy of the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) since 7 May 2021.
Predecessors
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.
+Chief Counselors of PondicherryPortraitNameTerm in officeAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai(1906–1956)17 August 195513 January 1956149 days2Edouard Goubert(1894–1979)17 January 195624 October 19582 years, 280 days–Vacant (25 October 1958 – 8 September 1959)3V. 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 was 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 president of India appoints the chief minister, along with their council of ministers.
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.
List of Chief Ministers of Puducherry Key Resigned Dismissed by the Head of State Resigned following a no-confidence motion Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term +Chief Ministers of Puducherry (1) (1) (3) (7)PortraitName Elected constituencyTerm of officeAssemblyMinistryAppointerPolitical partyAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1Edouard Goubert(1894–1979)Mannadipet1 July 196310 September 19641 year, 71 days1stGoubertSarvepalli RadhakrishnanIndian National Congressrowspan=4 2V. Venkatasubba Reddiar(1909–1982)Nettapakkam11 September 19648 April 19672 years, 209 days2ndReddiar I3M. O. H. Farook(1937–2012)Karaikal North9 April 19675 March 1968331 daysFarook I(2)V. Venkatasubba Reddiar(1909–1982)Nettapakkam6 March 196818 September 1968196 daysReddiar IIZakir Husain–Vacant(President's rule)N/A18 September 196816 March 1969179 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A(3)M. O. H. Farook(1937–2012)Kalapet17 March 19693 January 19744 years, 292 days3rdFarook IIZakir HusainDravida Munnetra Kazhagam–Vacant(President's rule)N/A3 January 19745 March 197461 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A4S. Ramassamy(1939–2017)Karaikal South6 March 197428 March 197422 days4thRamassamy IVarahagiri Venkata GiriAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam–Vacant(President's rule)N/A28 March 19741 July 19773 years, 95 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A(4)S. Ramassamy(1939–2017)Karaikal South2 July 197712 November 19781 year, 133 days5thRamassamy IIB. D. JattiAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam–Vacant(President's rule)N/A12 November 197815 January 19801 year, 64 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A5M. D. R. Ramachandran(1934–2024)Mannadipet16 January 198024 June 19833 years, 159 days6thRamachandran INeelam Sanjiva ReddyDravida Munnetra Kazhagam–Vacant(President's rule)N/A24 June 198316 March 19851 year, 265 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A(3)M. O. H. Farook(1937–2012)Lawspet17 March 19857 March 19904 years, 355 days7thFarook IIIGiani Zail SinghIndian National Congress(5)M. D. R. Ramachandran(1934–2024)Mannadipet8 March 19904 March 1991361 days8thRamachandran IIR. VenkataramanDravida Munnetra Kazhagam–Vacant(President's rule)N/A4 March 19913 July 1991121 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A6V. Vaithilingam( 1950)Nettapakkam4 July 199126 May 19964 years, 327 days9thVaithilingam IR. VenkataramanIndian National Congress7R. V. Janakiraman(1941–2019)Nellithope27 May 199621 March 20003 years, 299 days10thJanakiramanShankar Dayal SharmaDravida Munnetra Kazhagam8P. Shanmugam(1927–2013)Yanam22 March 200023 May 20011 year, 218 daysShanmugam IK. R. NarayananIndian National Congressrowspan=5 24 May 200126 October 200111thShanmugam II9N. Rangasamy( 1950)Thattanchavady27 October 200117 May 20066 years, 312 daysRangasamy I18 May 20063 September 200812thRangasamy IIA. P. J. Abdul Kalam(6)V. Vaithilingam( 1950)Nettapakkam4 September 200815 May 20112 years, 253 daysVaithilingam IIPratibha Devisingh Patil(9)N. Rangasamy( 1950)Kadirkamam16 May 20115 June 20165 years, 20 days13thRangasamy IIIAll India N.R. Congress10V. Narayanasamy( 1947)Nellithope6 June 201625 February 20214 years, 264 days14thNarayanasamyPranab MukherjeeIndian National Congress–Vacant(President's rule)N/A25 February 20216 May 202170 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A(9)N. Rangasamy( 1950)Thattanchavady7 May 202112 May 202615thRangasamy IVRam Nath KovindAll India N.R. Congressrowspan=2 Mangalam13 May 2026Incumbent16thRangasamy VDroupadi Murmu
Timeline
Statistics List of chief ministers by length of term NamePartyLength of termLongest continuous termTotal duration of the chief ministership1N. RangasamyAINRC/INC6 years, 312 days2M. O. H. FarookINC/DMK4 years, 355 days10 years, 248 days3V. VaithilingamINC4 years, 327 days7 years, 215 days4V. NarayanasamyINC4 years, 264 days4 years, 264 days5M. D. R. RamachandranDMK3 years, 159 days4 years, 155 days6R. V. JanakiramanDMK3 years, 299 days3 years, 299 days7V. Venkatasubba ReddiarINC2 years, 209 days3 years, 40 days8S. RamassamyAIADMK1 year, 133 days1 year, 155 days9P. ShanmugamINC1 year, 218 days1 year, 218 days10Edouard GoubertINC1 year, 71 days1 year, 71 days
List by party +Parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO ( )Political partyNumber of chief ministersTotal days of holding CMO1Indian National Congress7 days2Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam34763 days3All India N.R. Congress1 days4All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam1520 days
Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Chief Minister's Office
See also President of India History of Puducherry Elections in Puducherry List of presidents of India 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
External links Official Website of the Office of the Chief Minister