The Puducherry Legislative Assembly is the
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
legislature of the Indian
union territory (UT) of
Puducherry, which comprises four districts:
Puducherry,
Karaikal
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 occa ...
,
Mahé and
Yanam
Yanam (Telugu: ''యానాం'') is a town located in the Yanam district in Puducherry. It has a population of 35,000 and is entirely surrounded by Andhra Pradesh. It was formerly a French colony for nearly 200 years, and, though united ...
. Out of eight union territories of India, only three have legislatures and they are
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
,
Puducherry and
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
. After delimitation shortly after its formation, the Puducherry legislative assembly has 33 seats, of which 5 are reserved for candidates from
scheduled castes
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...
and 3 members are nominated by the
Government of India
The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...
. 30 out of 33 Members are elected directly by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise and the remaining three are nominated by the central government. These nominated members enjoy same powers as elected members of the assembly.
![Puducherry Electoral Constituencies Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Puducherry_Electoral_Constituencies_Map.svg)
Geographically, the area under the Puducherry UT consists of three disjointed regions, with Puducherry and Karaikal districts surrounded by districts of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
, Yanam district an enclave of
East Godavari district
East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549.
In the Madras Pre ...
of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, and Mahé district bordered by districts of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...
. The four districts were ruled by French before they were integrated into India in 1962. For ease of administration, during French rule, the area under these four districts was divided into 39 assembly constituencies. After becoming a UT of India, Puducherry was divided into 30 assembly constituencies, which were restructured in 2005 by the
Delimitation Commission of India
The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the vari ...
.
History
Assembly during French rule
In 1946,
French India
French India, formally the ( en, French Settlements in India), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian Subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de ...
(''Inde française'') became
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
The term overseas territory (french: territoire d'outre-mer or TOM) is an administrative division of France and is currently only applied to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
The division differs from that of overseas department and ...
'') of France.
Then a
Representative Assembly A representative assembly is a political institution in which a number of persons representing the population or privileged orders within the population of a state come together to debate, negotiate with the executive (originally the king or other r ...
(''Assemblée représentative'') was created. Thus, in 1946, on 25 October, the representative assembly of 44 members has replaced the general council (''conseil général''). The Representative Assembly had 44 seats until merger of Chandernagore in 1951. Later, it reduced to 39 seats.
Merger and formation of Union Territory
The French government transferred the four enclaves to the Indian Union under a de facto treaty on 1 November 1954. Later the territory was merged with India on 16 August 1962.
On 10 May 1963, 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 that came into force on 1 July 1963. This introduced the same pattern of government that prevailed in the rest of the country, but subject to certain limitations.
Under Article 239 of the
Indian Constitution
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 r ...
, the
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...
appoints an Administrator LG with such designation as he may specify to head the administration of the territory. The
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
also appoints 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 ...
. The President, on the advice of 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 ...
, appoints the other Ministers. The Union Territories Act, 1963 limits the number of elected members of the assembly to 30 and allows the central government to appoint not more than 3 nominated MLAs. The same act ensures that seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes in the legislative assembly.
The
Representative Assembly A representative assembly is a political institution in which a number of persons representing the population or privileged orders within the population of a state come together to debate, negotiate with the executive (originally the king or other r ...
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.
Nominated MLAs
Very few state/U.T. legislative assemblies have nominated MLAs and their voting powers are limited with Puducherry being the only exception. In 2021, the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
has clarified two important aspects related to the nominated MLAs.. The first one is about their nomination. The court held that as per the 1963 act the
central government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
is empowered to nominate the MLAs even without consulting the
Government of Puducherry
Government of Puducherry is the union territorial government for the union territory of Puducherry, India. It is headed by the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Its capital is located at Pondicherry.
Government and administration
Lieuten ...
. The second one is about the power of vote of the nominated MLAs. The court also held that the nominated MLAs enjoys voting powers at par with elected MLAs as the 1963 law per se did not differentiate between the nominated MLAs from the elected ones.
Tenures of different legislative assemblies of Puducherry
Source:
[
]
Membership by party
Members of Puducherry assembly by their political party (As on 24.06.2022) :
Members of Legislative Assembly
See also
* List of constituencies of Puducherry Legislative Assembly
* List of Chief Ministers of Puducherry
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 auth ...
*
* List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry
Puducherry (formerly known as "Pondicherry") is a Union Territory of India. Governance and administration of the territory fall directly under federal authority.
Chief Commissioner (1954 1963)
After the ''de facto'' transfer of French settl ...
* List of speakers of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
Speaker of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of Puducherry, the main law-making body for the Indian UT of Puducherry. The speaker is always a member of the Legislative Assembly.
History
...
* Puducherry (Lok Sabha constituency)
Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency covers the entire Union Territory of Puducherry. Pondicherry became a union territory after the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1962 and changed its name to Puduc ...
* List of Rajya Sabha members from Puducherry
The Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Every state and union territory of India has been allocated some seats according to the Indian Constitution, and Puducherry is allocated one seat in the house, ...
* Puducherry Municipal Council
* Yanam Municipal Council
Notes
References
External links
Pouducherry Legislative Assembly
{{Puducherry elections
State legislatures of India