List of chief ministers of Puducherry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chief Minister of Union Territory of Puducherry
Emblem of Puducherry
Incumbent N. Rangasamy since 7 May 2021 (4 years ago) (2021-05-07)
Style	The Honourable
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Puducherry Legislative Assembly Cabinet
Appointer	President of India
Term length	At the confidence of the assembly 5 years and is subject to no term limits.
Inaugural holder	Edouard Goubert
Formation	1 July 1963 (61 years ago) (1963-07-01)

The Chief Minister of Puducherry is like the main boss or leader of the government in Puducherry. Puducherry is a special area in India called a union territory. The Chief Minister is in charge of making important decisions and running the daily activities of the government.

Even though the lieutenant governor is the official head of Puducherry on paper, the Chief Minister holds the real power. They lead the government and make sure things get done. After elections, the party or group of parties that wins the most seats in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly gets to form the government. The President of India officially chooses the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister works with a team of other ministers, called the council of ministers. They all work together and are responsible to the assembly. A Chief Minister usually serves for five years. There is no limit to how many times someone can be Chief Minister, as long as they have the support of the assembly.

Since 1963, Puducherry has had 10 different Chief Ministers. The person who has served the longest is N. Rangasamy. He is also the current Chief Minister. He has been in office for over thirteen years in total. M. O. H. Farook served the second longest, and V. Vaithilingam served the third longest. The very first Chief Minister, Édouard Goubert, served for the shortest time. Sometimes, if there's a big problem or no clear government, the President of India takes over. This is called president's rule. It has happened seven times in Puducherry.

The current Chief Minister is N. Rangasamy from the All India N.R. Congress party. He started his current term on May 7, 2021.

Understanding the Chief Minister's Role

The Chief Minister is the most important elected official in Puducherry. They lead the government and make sure that laws are followed. They also work to improve the lives of people in the union territory.

How a Chief Minister is Chosen

After people vote in elections for the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, the party that wins the most seats gets to choose their leader. This leader is then invited by the Lieutenant Governor to become the Chief Minister. The President of India officially appoints them.

Working with the Council of Ministers

The Chief Minister picks other members of the assembly to be part of their team, called the council of ministers. Each minister is in charge of a different area, like education or health. They all work together and are responsible for their decisions to the Legislative Assembly.

Puducherry's Journey to a Chief Minister

Before 1963, Puducherry was a French settlement. It went through a special time of change between 1954 and 1962. During this period, it was called the "State of Pondicherry." It had "chief counsellors" instead of Chief Ministers.

Early Leaders: Chief Counsellors (1955-1963)

Here are the leaders who served as chief counsellors during that special time:

• Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai served from August 17, 1955, to January 13, 1956.
• Édouard Goubert served from 1956 to October 24, 1958.
• V. Venkatasubba Reddiar served from September 9, 1959, to June 30, 1963.

Puducherry Becomes a Union Territory (1963)

On July 1, 1963, a new law called the Government of Union Territories Act came into effect. This law changed the "State of Pondicherry" into the "Union Territory of Puducherry." From that day on, it got its own Legislative Assembly, and the position of Chief Minister was created.

List of Chief Ministers of Puducherry (Since 1963)

This table shows all the people who have served as Chief Minister of Puducherry since it became a Union Territory.

No.	Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Elected area	Time in office			Assembly (Election)	Ministry	Appointed by	Political party (Alliance)
				Started office	Left office	Total days
1		Edouard Goubert (1894–1979)	Mannadipet	1 July 1963	10 September 1964	1 year, 71 days	1st (1959 election)	Goubert	S. K. Datta	Indian National Congress
2		V. Venkatasubba Reddiar (1909–1982)	Nettapakkam	11 September 1964	9 April 1967	2 years, 210 days	2nd (1964 election)	Reddiar I	S. L. Silam
3		M. O. H. Farook (1937–2012)	Karaikal North	9 April 1967	6 March 1968	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 election)	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 election)	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 election)	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 (Unknown)	Mannadipet	16 January 1980	23 June 1983	3 years, 158 days	6th (1980 election)	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 election)	Farook III	T. P. Tewary	Indian National Congress
(5)		M. D. R. Ramachandran (Unknown)	Mannadipet	8 March 1990	2 March 1991	359 days	8th (1990 election)	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 (1950–)	Nettapakkam	4 July 1991	25 May 1996	4 years, 326 days	9th (1991 election)	Vaithilingam I	Harswarup Singh	Indian National Congress
7		R. V. Janakiraman (1941–2019)	Nellithope	26 May 1996	21 March 2000	3 years, 300 days	10th (1996 election)	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		11th (2001 election)	Shanmugam II
9		N. Rangasamy (1950–)	Thattanchavady	27 October 2001	12 May 2006	6 years, 313 days		Rangasamy I
				13 May 2006	4 September 2008		12th (2006 election)	Rangasamy II	Madan Mohan Lakhera
(6)		V. Vaithilingam (1950–)	Nettapakkam	4 September 2008	15 May 2011	2 years, 253 days		Vaithilingam II	Govind Singh Gurjar
(9)		N. Rangasamy (1950–)	Kadirkamam	16 May 2011	5 June 2016	5 years, 20 days	13th (2011 election)	Rangasamy III	Iqbal Singh	All India N.R. Congress
10		V. Narayanasamy (1947–)	Nellithope	6 June 2016	22 February 2021	4 years, 261 days	14th (2016 election)	Narayanasamy	Kiran Bedi	Indian National Congress (Secular Progressive Alliance)
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	23 February 2021	6 May 2021	72 days	Dissolved	N/A	–	N/A
(9)		N. Rangasamy (1950–)	Thattanchavady	7 May 2021	Incumbent	4 years, 51 days	15th (2021 election)	Rangasamy IV	Tamilisai Soundararajan	All India N.R. Congress (National Democratic Alliance)

More About Puducherry's Government

• List of leaders of the opposition in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• List of speakers of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry
• Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• Elections in Puducherry