The chief minister of Puducherry is the

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n union territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

. In accordance with the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

, the

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

is a union territory's ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' head, but ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' executive authority rests with the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. Following elections to the

Puducherry Legislative Assembly The Puducherry Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian union territory (UT) of Puducherry, which comprises four districts: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahé and Yanam. Out of eight union territories of India, only three h ...

, the union territory's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. The lieutenant governor appoints the chief minister, whose

council of ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

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 limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s. Since 1963, Puducherry has had 10 chief ministers. The longest-serving and current chief minister,

N. Rangasamy Natesan Krishnasamy Rangasamy (born 4 August 1950) is an Indian politician who is the Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Puducherry. He previously served as last Chief Minister of Pondicherry from 2001 to 2006 and first Chief Minister ...

from

All India N.R. Congress All India N.R. Congress (abbr. AINRC) is a regional political party formed by the Chief Minister of Puducherry, N. Rangaswamy in the Indian union territory of Puducherry. He announced the party formation on 7 February 2011 in the party's h ...

held the office for over thirteen years in multiple tenure. The former Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation M. O. H. Farook has the second-longest tenure and

V. Vaithilingam V. Vaithilingam (born 5 October 1950) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress, who currently represents Puducherry in the Lok Sabha. He held the position as 11th Chief Minister of Pondicherry from 1991 to 1996 and 16t ...

from

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

has the third-longest tenure. The inaugural holder

Édouard Goubert Édouard Goubert (29 July 1894 – 14 August 1979) was mayor and first chief minister of Pondicherry between 1 July 1963 and 11 September 1964. Initially a strongly pro-French leader, he later shifted towards the pro-merger Indian National Co ...

has the shortest tenure (only 1 year, 71 days). There have been seven instances of

president's rule In India, President's rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct Union government rule in a state. Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional ...

in Puducherry, most recently in 2021. The current incumbent is

of the

since 7 May 2021.

List of chief ministers of State of Pondicherry (Between 1954 and 1963)

The French settlements in India were in transition period between the de facto transfer day (i.e. 1 October 1954) and the de-jure transfer day (i.e. 16 August 1962). In January 1955, The Indian union government by an order renamed these four French settlements in India as State of Pondicherry. Both these transfer days are official holidays within the UT of Puducherry. The list of chief ministers: * 1.

Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...

from 17 August 1955 to 13 January 1956 * 2.

from 1956 to 24 October 1958
(The chief commissioner rule between 28 October 1958 and August 1959) * 3. V. Venkatasubba Reddiar from 9 September 1959 to 30 June 1963

List of chief ministers of Puducherry UT (since 1963)

The Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 that came into force on 1 July 1963 and the state of Pondicherry got converted into the Union territory with effect from the same day. Also, its Representative Assembly was converted into Legislative Assembly. ;Legend ;Key * Resigned * Assassinated or died in office * Resigned following a

no-confidence motion A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

* Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term

Notes

;Footnotes

List of chief ministers of State of Pondicherry (Between 1954 and 1963)

List of chief ministers of Puducherry UT (since 1963)

See also

Notes

References

See also