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| Puducherry Legislative Assembly | |
| Legislature: | 15th Puducherry Assembly |
| Coa Pic: | Emblem of the Government of Puducherry.png |
| House Type: | Unicameral |
| Term Limits: | 5 years |
| Leader1 Type: | Lieutenant Governor |
| Leader1: | K. Kailashnathan |
| Election1: | 7 August 2024 |
| Leader2 Type: | Speaker |
| Leader2: | Embalam R. Selvam |
| Party2: | BJP |
| Election2: | 16 June 2021 |
| Leader3 Type: | Deputy Speaker |
| Leader3: | P. Rajavelu |
| Party3: | AINRC |
| Election3: | 25 August 2021 |
| Leader4 Type: | Chief Minister |
| Leader4: | N. Rangasamy |
| Party4: | AINRC |
| Election4: | 7 May 2021 |
| Leader5 Type: | Leader of the House |
| Leader5: | N. Rangasamy |
| Party5: | AINRC |
| Election5: | 8 May 2021 |
| Leader6 Type: | Leader of the Opposition |
| Leader6: | R. Siva |
| Party6: | DMK |
| Election6: | 8 May 2021 |
| Members: | 30 |
| Structure1: | Puducherry Legislative Assembly June_2022.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 300px |
| Political Groups1: | Government (24) NDA (24)
Nominated (3)
INDIA (9)
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| Voting System1: | First past the post |
| First Election1: | 11 August 1959 |
| Last Election1: | 6 April 2021 |
| Next Election1: | May 2026 |
| Session Room: | Pondicherry Legislative Assembly.jpg |
| Session Res: | 200px |
| Meeting Place: | Chief Secretariat of Puducherry, Puducherry, Puducherry |
The Puducherry Legislative Assembly (French: Assemblée législative de Pondichéry) 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 have legislatures and they are Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. After delimitation shortly after its formation, the Puducherry legislative assembly has 33 seats, of which 5 are reserved for candidates from scheduled castes and 3 members are nominated by the Government of India. 30 out of 33 Members are elected directly by the people based on universal adult franchise and the remaining three are nominated by the central government. These nominated members enjoy the same powers as elected members of the assembly.
Geographically, the area under the Puducherry UT consists of three disjointed regions, with Puducherry and Karaikal districts surrounded by districts of Tamil Nadu, Yanam district an enclave of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, and Mahé district bordered by districts of Kerala. The four districts were ruled by the 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.
See also: Representative Assembly of French India.
See also: Pondicherry Representative Assembly. In 1946, French India (Inde française) became Overseas territory (Territoire d'outre-mer) of France.Then a Representative Assembly (Assemblée représentative) was created. Thus, in 1946, on 25 October, the representative assembly of 44 members has replaced the general council (conseil général).[2] The Representative Assembly had 44 seats until merger of Chandernagore in 1951. Later, it reduced to 39 seats.
The French government transferred the four enclaves to the Indian Union under a de facto treaty on 1 November 1954.[3] Later the territory was merged with India on 16 August 1962.
On 10 May 1963, the Indian Parliament 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.[4] Under Article 239 of the Indian Constitution, the President of India appoints an Administrator LG with such designation as he may specify to head the administration of the territory. The President also appoints the Chief Minister. The President, on the advice of the Chief Minister, 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 was converted into the Legislative Assembly of Pondicherry on 1 July 1963 as per Section 54(3) of The Union Territories Act, 1963[4] and its members were deemed to have been elected to the Assembly.[5] Thus, the First Legislative Assembly was formed without an election. Elections for the assembly have been held since 1964.
Very few state/union territory legislative assemblies have nominated MLAs and their voting powers are limited with Puducherry being the only exception. In 2021, the Supreme Court of India 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 Government of India is empowered to nominate the MLAs even without consulting the Government of Puducherry. The second one is about the voting power of the nominated MLAs.[6] The court also held that the nominated MLAs enjoy voting powers at par with elected MLAs, as the 1963 law per se did not differentiate between the nominated MLAs from the elected ones.[7]
Puducherry has five official names, owing to its linguistic diversity, past French heritage, and the legacy of British India.[8] The legislative assembly is referred to as follows:
The current Legislative Assembly is located in the rue Victor Simonel in a colonial-era building that was originally a medical college. The college was relocated to another location and since 1969 the building has been used for the assembly.[9]
| Alliance | Party | No. of MLAs | Leader of the party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government NDA Seats: 21 | All India N.R. Congress | 10 | N. Rangasamy | ||
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 6 | A. Namassivayam | |||
| Independent | 5 | N/A | |||
| Opposition INDIA Seats: 9 | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 6 | R. Siva | ||
| Indian National Congress | 2 | M. Vaithianathan | |||
| Independent | 1 | G. Nehru @ Kuppusamy | |||