After the merger of French settlements into an Indian union, a new assembly, named the Pondicherry Representative Assembly, was created by the government of India. After the "de facto transfer day" of 1 October 1954, before 16 August 1962 also referred to as "de-jure transfer day". During this transition period, general elections to the representative assembly were held in
1955 and
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. After the de-jure transfer day, legal integration of French settlements into the Indian Union was complete. However, this assembly, like its predecessor, was advisory (to the chief commissioner) in its role, which led to frequent contention between the popular government and the chief commissioner.
Background
In 1946,
French India (''Inde française'') became an
overseas territory
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
(''Territoire d'outre-mer'') of France.
In the same year, on 25 October, the Representative Assembly of French India (''Assemblée représentative de l'Inde française'') was created and replaced the general council (''conseil général'').
During the start of the
Fourth Republic, decree nº 46–2381, dated 25 October 1946, was passed by the government of France, instituting the Representative Assembly in French India. This original assembly had 44 seats, but after the merger of Changernagore, its size was reduced to 39. A member of this assembly was referred to as a councillor and held a five-year fixed term.
The ''de facto'' transfer of French settlements in India took place on 1 November 1954. In January 1955, the Indian union government renamed these four French settlements to the Union Territory of Pondicherry.
On 11 June 1955, the government of India dissolved the Representative Assembly of French India. After extending the 1951 People's Representative Act of the Indian Union to the state of Pondicherry, fresh elections were held to the Pondicherry Representative Assembly in July 1955, based on universal adult franchise.
Tenures of different Representative Assemblies of the State of Pondicherry
Commune-wise allocation of seats
After 1951, French India consisted of four "settlements" (French: ''établissements''), namely,
Pondichéry,
Karikal
Karaikal ( /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by the Rajah of Thanjavur and became a French Colony in 1739. The French held control, with occas ...
,
Mahé, and
Yanaon
Yanaon or Yanam was one of the five principal settlements of French India between 1731 and 1954.
Early years Reason for European interests
The French in their earlier records do mention of their interest in establishing trade in the Northern ...
. The Assemblée Représentative of French India allocated 39 seats to its 17 communes. Pondichéry and Karaikal had 8 and 6 electoral constituencies (''circonscriptions électorales''), respectively, while Mahé and Yanaon had one each.
[Journal Officiel des établissements français dans l'Inde, 1946.]
As per Article 2 of the decree, the composition of the assembly is determined as follows:
* Établissement de Pondichéry (22 seats)
**
Pondichéry: 6
**
Ariancoupom: 2
** Bahour: 2
** Modéliarpeth: 2
** Oulgaret: 4
** Nettapacom: 2
** Tiroubouvané: 2
** Villenour: 2
* Établissement de Karaikal (12 seats)
** Karaikal Ville: 4
** Cotchéry: 2
** Grand'Aldée: 2
** Neravy: 1
** Nédouncadou: 1
** Tirnoular: 2
* Établissement de Mahé (3 seats)
** Mahé: 3
* Établissement de Yanaon (2 seats)
** Yanaon: 2
List of seats
1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election
The
1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election
After the de facto merger on 1 November 1954 and before the legal integration with the Indian Union on 16 August 1962, general elections were held in 1955 and 1959. So. the first general elections to the Pondicherry Representative Assembly (French ...
was held from 18 to 23 July. Initially,
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 ...
led the Pondicherry Representative Assembly from 17 August 1955, until his death in January 1956. At that point, another cabinet was formed, comprising Eduard Goubert, Chandrasekhara Chettiar, Mohammed Yusoof, S. Dakshinamoorthy Mudaliar, and Thiagraja Naicker.
1959 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election
The
1959 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election
After the de facto merger on 1 November 1954 and before the legal integration with the Indian Union on 16 August 1962, second general elections were held in August 1959 to constitute Second Pondicherry Representative Assembly.
Background
the Con ...
was held from 11 to 14 August. Among the winners, a six-member council of ministers was formed under the leadership of
V. Venkatasubba Reddiar and included Eduard Goubert, C. E. Barathan, Gouroussamy Pillai, P. Shanmugam, and Mohamed Ismail Maricar.
Assembly building inauguration
The representative assembly building was inaugurated during the
Second Assembly by then-commissioner S. K. Dutta, on 11 August 1961. However, that event was boycotted by leaders of the People's Front, which was the principal opposition party. The deputy leader of the opposition, M. M. Hussaine, clarified that it was a passive demonstration to garner attention from the central government in order to hasten the process of ''de jure'' transfer. A resolution urging this transfer was passed by the assembly in November 1959.
Dissolution
The French settlements in India were ''de jure'' transferred on 16 August 1962. The Pondicherry Representative Assembly functioned until 30 June 1963 and was succeeded by 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
Indian Parliament
The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...
enacted the ''Government of Union Territories Act, 1963'', which came into force on 1 July 1963,
and the pattern of government prevailing in the rest of the country was introduced in this territory also, but subject to certain limitations.
Edouard Goubert became the chief minister in the subsequent Pondicherry Legislative Assembly.
See also
*
Representative Assembly of French India
In 1946, French India (''Inde française'') became Overseas territory (France), Overseas territory (''Territoire d'outre-mer'') of France.
Then, in the same year on 25 October, the Representative Assembly of French India (''Assemblée représenta ...
*
Municipal Administration in French India
*
French colonial empire
References
Notes
{{Puducherry elections
French India
Colonial India
Yanam
Puducherry
Karaikal
1955 establishments in India