| Chief Minister ofPuducherry | |
|---|---|
| Putuccēri Mutalamaiccar | |
 | |
 | |
| Style |
|
| Type | Head of government |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of |
|
| Reports to | |
| Appointer | Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry |
| Formation | 1 July 1963; 62 years ago (1963-07-01) |
| First holder | Edouard Goubert |
| Website | py.gov.in |
Thechief minister of Puducherry is thechief executive of theIndianunion territory ofPuducherry. In accordance with theConstitution of India, thelieutenant governor is a union territory'sde jure head, butde facto executive authority rests with thechief minister. Following elections to thePuducherry Legislative Assembly, thelieutenant governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form thegovernment. The lieutenant governor appoints the chief minister, whosecouncil of ministers arecollectively 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 noterm limits.[1]
Since 1963,Puducherry has had 10chief ministers. Thelongest-serving and current chief minister,N. Rangasamy from theAll India N.R. Congress, held the office for over sixteen years in multiple tenures. The formergovernor of KeralaM. O. H. Farook has the second-longest tenure, andV. Vaithilingam from theIndian National Congress has the third-longest tenure.[2] The first holderEdouard Goubert from the Indian National Congress has the shortest tenure (only 1 year, 71 days).[3] There have been seven instances ofpresident's rule in Puducherry, most recently in 2021.
Thecurrent incumbent isN. Rangasamy of theAll India N.R. Congress since 7 May 2021.[4]
TheFrench settlements in India were in a transition period between thede facto transfer day (i.e., 1 November 1954) and thede jure transfer day (i.e., 16 August 1962). In January 1955, thegovernment of India, by an order, renamed these four French settlements in India as theState of Pondicherry. Both these transfer days are official holidays within theunion territory ofPuducherry.[5][6]
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | 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 |
On 10 May 1963, thegovernment of India enacted theGovernment 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 theIndian Constitution, thepresident of India appoints thelieutenant governor of Puducherry with such designation as he may specify to head the administration of the territory. The lieutenant governor appoints thechief minister. The lieutenant governor, on the advice of the chief minister, appoints the council of ministers.[7]
Also, therepresentative assembly was converted into thelegislative 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, thefirst legislative assembly was formed without an election.Elections for the assembly have been held since 1964.[8]
| AIADMK (1) AINRC (1) DMK (3) INC (7) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected constituency | Term of office[a] | Assembly (Election) | Ministry | Appointed by | Political party[b] | |||
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||||
| 1 | Edouard Goubert (1894–1979) | Mannadipet | 1 July 1963 | 10 September 1964 | 1 year, 71 days | 1st (1959) | Goubert | S. K. Datta | Indian National Congress | ||
| 2 | | V. Venkatasubba Reddiar (1909–1982) | Nettapakkam | 11 September 1964 | 9 April 1967[RES] | 2 years, 210 days | 2nd (1964) | Reddiar I | S. L. Silam | ||
| 3 |  | M. O. H. Farook (1937–2012) | Karaikal North | 9 April 1967 | 6 March 1968[RES] | 332 days | Farook I | ||||
| (2) | | V. Venkatasubba Reddiar (1909–1982) | Nettapakkam | 6 March 1968[§] | 17 September 1968 | 195 days | Reddiar II | ||||
| – |  | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 18 September 1968 | 16 March 1969 | 179 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| (3) | | M. O. H. Farook (1937–2012) | Kalapet | 17 March 1969[§] | 2 January 1974 | 4 years, 291 days | 3rd (1969) | Farook II | B. D. Jatti | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | |
| – | | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 3 January 1974 | 5 March 1974 | 61 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| 4 | S. Ramassamy (1939–2017) | Karaikal South | 6 March 1974 | 28 March 1974 | 22 days | 4th (1974) | Ramassamy I | Cheddi Lal | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| – | | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 29 March 1974 | 1 July 1977 | 3 years, 94 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| (4) | S. Ramassamy (1939–2017) | Karaikal South | 2 July 1977[§] | 12 November 1978 | 1 year, 133 days | 5th (1977) | Ramassamy II | B. T. Kulkarni | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| – | | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 13 November 1978 | 15 January 1980 | 1 year, 63 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| 5 | M. D. R. Ramachandran (1934–2024) | Mannadipet | 16 January 1980 | 23 June 1983[NC] | 3 years, 158 days | 6th (1980) | Ramachandran I | B. T. Kulkarni | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| – | | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 24 June 1983 | 15 March 1985 | 1 year, 264 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| (3) | | M. O. H. Farook (1937–2012) | Lawspet | 16 March 1985[§] | 7 March 1990 | 4 years, 356 days | 7th (1985) | Farook III | T. P. Tewary | Indian National Congress | |
| (5) | M. D. R. Ramachandran (1934–2024) | Mannadipet | 8 March 1990[§] | 2 March 1991[NC] | 359 days | 8th (1990) | Ramachandran II | Chandrawati | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| – | | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 3 March 1991 | 3 July 1991 | 122 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| 6 |  | V. Vaithilingam (b. 1950) | Nettapakkam | 4 July 1991 | 25 May 1996 | 4 years, 326 days | 9th (1991) | Vaithilingam I | Harswarup Singh | Indian National Congress | |
| 7 | .jpg) | R. V. Janakiraman (1941–2019) | Nellithope | 26 May 1996 | 21 March 2000[NC] | 3 years, 300 days | 10th (1996) | Janakiraman | Rajendra Kumari Bajpai | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | |
| 8 | P. Shanmugam (1927–2013) | Yanam | 22 March 2000 | 23 May 2001 | 1 year, 219 days | Shanmugam I | Rajani Rai | Indian National Congress | |||
| 24 May 2001 | 27 October 2001[RES] | 11th (2001) | Shanmugam II | ||||||||
| 9 | | N. Rangasamy (b. 1950) | Thattanchavady | 27 October 2001 | 12 May 2006 | 6 years, 313 days | Rangasamy I | ||||
| 13 May 2006 | 4 September 2008[RES] | 12th (2006) | Rangasamy II | Madan Mohan Lakhera | |||||||
| (6) | | V. Vaithilingam (b. 1950) | Nettapakkam | 4 September 2008[§] | 15 May 2011 | 2 years, 253 days | Vaithilingam II | Govind Singh Gurjar | |||
| (9) | | N. Rangasamy (b. 1950) | Kadirkamam | 16 May 2011[§] | 5 June 2016 | 5 years, 20 days | 13th (2011) | Rangasamy III | Iqbal Singh | All India N.R. Congress | |
| 10 |  | V. Narayanasamy (b. 1947) | Nellithope | 6 June 2016 | 22 February 2021[NC] | 4 years, 261 days | 14th (2016) | Narayanasamy | Kiran Bedi | Indian National Congress | |
| – | | Vacant (President's rule) | N/A | 23 February 2021 | 6 May 2021 | 72 days | Dissolved | N/A | – | N/A | |
| (9) | | N. Rangasamy (b. 1950) | Thattanchavady | 7 May 2021[§] | Incumbent | 4 years, 286 days | 15th (2021) | Rangasamy IV | Tamilisai Soundararajan | All India N.R. Congress | |
| No. | Name | Party | Length of term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest continuous duration | Total duration of chief ministership | ||||
| 1 | N. Rangasamy | AINRC/INC | 6 years, 313 days | 16 years, 255 days | |
| 2 | M. O. H. Farook | INC/DMK | 4 years, 356 days | 10 years, 249 days | |
| 3 | V. Vaithilingam | INC | 4 years, 326 days | 7 years, 214 days | |
| 4 | V. Narayanasamy | INC | 4 years, 261 days | 4 years, 261 days | |
| 5 | M. D. R. Ramachandran | DMK | 3 years, 158 days | 4 years, 152 days | |
| 6 | R. V. Janakiraman | DMK | 3 years, 300 days | 3 years, 300 days | |
| 7 | V. Venkatasubba Reddiar | INC | 2 years, 210 days | 3 years, 40 days | |
| 8 | S. Ramassamy | AIADMK | 1 year, 133 days | 1 year, 155 days | |
| 9 | P. Shanmugam | INC | 1 year, 219 days | 1 year, 219 days | |
| 10 | Edouard Goubert | INC | 1 year, 71 days | 1 year, 71 days | |
| No. | Political party | Number of chief ministers | Total days of holding CMO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indian National Congress | 7 | 10319 days |
| 2 | All India N.R. Congress | 1 | 3594 days |
| 2 | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 3 | 2568 days |
| 4 | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1 | 520 days |
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| Elections | ||
