1st Pondicherry Representative Assembly

October 2022 October 2022 1st Representative Assembly of Pondicherry Assembly Building, rue Victor Simonel, Puducherry, India Pondicherry Representative Assembly 1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election 2nd Representative Assembly of French India 2nd Pondicherry Representative Assembly Indian National Congress People's Front 1955 08 17 y 1958 10 28 y 39 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. In January 1955, The Indian union government renamed the French settlements in India as State of Pondicherry by passing an order.https://books.google.com/books?id=JncPAQAAIAAJ Indian Affairs Record (Vol. I and II) Diwan Chand Indian Information Center 195520 The previous assembly that was elected during French rule was dissolved on 13 June 1955 and the first general elections to the Pondicherry Representative Assembly were held in next month from 18 to 23 July for 39 constituencies. The election were held on the basis of adult franchise under the State of Pondicherry (Representation of the People French: Représentation du peuple) Order, 1955 which prescribed the rules and regulations for the conduct of elections, more or less on the pattern adopted in the Indian Union.https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100486 India, A Reference Annual 1956 494 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India Publications Division 1956https://books.google.com/books?id=DFqbAAAAMAAJ Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature 464 Malhotra G.C. Metropolitan Book Co. Pvt. Ltd. 2004 9788120004009 Important members President:note Equivalent to Speaker in contemporary Indian assemblies R.L. Purushothama Reddiar from 17 August 1955PhD S. Geetha 2008 Society and politics in French India: merger and anti-merger alignments in the Mid-Twentieth century Pondicherry University 10603/5417 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/5417368 to 23 April 1956note He resigned from Congress party. He along with four other dissidents joined the opposition. After he left the assembly by declaring sine die along with his dissidents, the deputy speaker was asked to act as speaker and Purushothama Reddiar got removed from speaker post unanimously.99 Kamichetty Sri Parassourama Varaprassada Rao Naidu from 23 April 1956https://books.google.com/books?id=vfsmAQAAIAAJ Civic Affairs, Volume 3, Numbers 7–12 99 S.P. Mehra Citizen Press at Kanpur 195697 to 24 October 1958 Vice-President:note Equivalent to Deputy Speaker in contemporary Indian assemblies Kamichetty Sri Parassourama Varaprassada Rao Naidu from 1954 to April 1956 Leader of the House:note Then referred as Chief counsellor Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai from 17 August 1955https://books.google.com/books?id=9smKAAAAMAAJ The Encyclopaedia of Indian National Congress 15 229 A. Moin Zaidi S. Chand Publications 1976 to 13 January 1956https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99239 Report Of The General Secretaries Shriman Narayan, K.P.Madhavan Nair Indian National Congress 195664–65 Édouard Goubert from 20 April 1956http://www.archieve.claudearpi.net/maintenance/uploaded_pics/SWJN_Vol_32_PY.pdf Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru 156 Jawaharlal Nehru 32 Oxford University Press 1961 to 24 October 1958 Leader of opposition: V. Subbiah from 17 August 1955 to 24 October 1958 Members of the First Pondicherry Representative Assembly as of 1956 Party Name Members  Indian National Congress 22   People's Front 12  Independents 5 Keys: #00FFFF Congress (22) solid 1px #AAAAAA #FF0000 People's Front (P.F.) (12) solid 1px #AAAAAA #D3D3D3 Independent (5) solid 1px #AAAAAA + Members of the First Pondicherry Representative Assembly S. NoName ConstituencyCommuneRegionParty 1AnnousamyAriankuppamAriancoupomPondicherryP.F.2Arul RajMuthialpetPondicherryPondicherryP.F.3ArunachalamDarbaranyeswarar KoilTirnoularKarikalCongress4Asappu BairavasamyOulgaret TownOulgaretPondicherryP.F.5BarathidasanCassicadePondicherryPondicherryCongressnote i.e. Won on P.F. ticket,https://books.google.com/books?id=n3MOAAAAYAAJ Bharathidasan: Life 39 Pāppaṇṇā Paramēsvaran̲ Anu Pathippagam 1991 but, among three who joined Congress after elections6C. E. BarathanMahe TownMaheMaheCongress7Chandrasekhara ChettiarArchivak–TavalacoupomAriancoupomPondicherryCongress8D.Rathinasabapathy PillaiNéravy CommuneNéravyKarikalCongress9Édouard GoubertBahourBahourPondicherryCongress 10Evariste DessameKarikal SouthKarikalKarikalP.F.11GovindarajuNellitope TownModéliarpethPondicherryP.F.12Joseph LatourOuppalaomPondicherryPondicherryP.F.13K. Sheikh Dawood MaricarKarikal Town NorthKarikalKarikalCongress14K.S.V. Prasadarao NaiduYanamnote i.e. Kanakalpeta constituencyYanaonYanamCongress 15Louis SavarihVillenour TownVillenourPondicherryInd.16M.M.HusseinFifth Bussy StreetPondicherryPondicherryP.F.17Mohamed YusoofKarikal CentralKarikalKarikalInd.18PadmanabhanPalloorMahéMaheInd. 19Murugaswamy ClemansoCouroussou CoupomPondicherryPondicherryP.F.20N. Sethuraman ChettiarRajbhavanPondicherryPondicherryInd. 21N. RanganathanSaram and LawspetOulgaretPondicherryP.F. 22Pakkir MohammedOussoudouVillenourPondicherryP.F. 23ShanmugamNedungaduNeduncadouKarikalP.F. 24RamalingamCalapetOulgaretPondicherryCongress 25R.L. Purushottam Reddiar Kuruvinattam-KariambutturBahourPondicherryCongress 26S. Dakshinamoorthy Mudaliar Thirumalarayanpattinam SouthGrand Aldée KarikalCongress 27Thandapani Kounder Mannadipet TownTiroubouvanéPondicherryCongress 28 Thiagaraja Naicker Embaralam-KalamandapamNettapacomPondicherryCongress 29 Thirukamu Reddi Sellipet-SouttoukenyTiroubouvanéPondicherryCongress 30 T. Srinivasa Pillai Thirumeni AlagarCotchéryKarikalCongress 31 U. Rangaswamy Pillai Thirumalayapattinam NorthGrand AldéeKarikalCongress 32 Venkatasubba Reddiar Nettapakkam TownNettapacomPondicherryCongress 33 V.N.PurushottamanPandakkalMaheMaheInd.34 V.Narayanaswamy Reddiarpalayam TownOulgaretPondicherryP.F.35 V.Ramalingam Pillai Badrakaliamman KovilTirnoularKarikalCongress 36 V.Ramaswamy Pillai Kottuchery-MathakovilCotchéryKarikalCongress 37 V. SubbiahMurugapakkamModéliarpethPondicherryP.F. 38 Y.Jagannadha RaoYanamnote i.e. Adi Andhrapeta constituencyYanaonYanamCongress 39 M. Pakkiriswamy Pillai† † †note i.e. The seat fell vacant after Pakkiriswamy Pillai's death in January 1956.https://books.google.com/books?id=QSs-AAAAIAAJ All India Election Guide R. V. Krishna Ayyar Oriental Publishers 167, 464 1956Karikovil PathanKarikalCongress † † † After the Death of Pakkiriswamy Pillai, his seat fell vacant in Karaikkal in 1956. Later a by election was conducted and P. Shanmugam got elected as the sixth councillor from Karaikkal.https://books.google.com/books?id=YfwmAQAAIAAJ Civic Affairs, Volume 4, Issues 1-6 Mehra S.P. Citizen Press at Kanpur 195697 Shanmugam was an erstwhile People's Front member from Nedungadu constituency.99 Council of ministers of Goubert(1956-1958) After death of Pakkirisamy a Council of ministers was formed under leadership of Edouard Goubert. Lt Governor during that time was Kewal Singh. The speaker of assembly was initially A. S. Gangeyan and was replaced by Kamichetty Parasuram.https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100486 India, A Reference Annual 1956 Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India 1956494 MinisterPortfolioÉdouard GoubertChief counsellorN.A.Chandrasekhara ChettiarN.A.C. E. BarathanN.A.Mohammad YussoofN.A.S. Dakshinamoorthy MudaliarN.A.Thiagaraja NaickerN.A. Later Shanmugam related Barathan in the council of ministers (also referred as advisory council to the commissioner) and the composition was as follows:https://books.google.com/books?id=NzxuAAAAMAAJ Encyclopaedia of India and Her States: Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Goa, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry Verinder Grover Ranjana Arora Deep & Deep Publications 1996 9788171007301 MinisterPortfolioÉdouard GoubertChief counsellorPublic Works, Industries and LabourChandrasekhara ChettiarPort, Fisheries, Co-operation, ElectricityShanumugamAgriculture, Rural Development etc.Mohammad YussoofRevenue, Veterinary & InformationS. Dakshinamoorthy MudaliarN.A.Thiagaraja NaickerLocal Administration, Transport & Information Important proceedings On 12 August 1955, the assembly passed a resolution demanding immediate de jure transfer of the state from France to Indian Union. This resolution was passed with huge majority. However, because of the Algerian war, the de jure transfer did not take place until August 1962.27 On 26 August 1955, the assembly demanded that the State of Pondicherry be kept a separate state within the Indian Union. The demand was accepted later and Puducherry is a union territory comprising the French settlements of Puducherry, Karaikkal, Mahe and Yanam.29 Instability Untimely death of the chief counsellor Pakkirisamy Pillai in January 1956 started a saga of infighting among the members of Congress Party. 1956 crisis First instance of serious infighting arouse during April 1956 which continued for four months and ended after election of Kamisetty Parasuram as the new speaker of the assembly. Congress assembly legislative party was divided about the successor of Pakkirisamy Pillai as chief counsellor (a post equivalent of chief minister in Indian state assemblies). The major faction was headed Goubert and the minor faction was led by Purushothama Reddiar who had four members supporting his cause. Election of Goubert as Chief counsellor On 20 April 1956 Goubert was elected unanimously when the Puroshathama Reddiar's faction abstained from that meeting. This issue became a scandal that attracted the attention of then Indian prime minister Nehru and Madras chief minister Kamaraj. Nehru has mentioned about it in his works. After Late Pakkirisamy's seat from Karaikal was vacant, the strength of Goubert's group got reduced from 18 to 19. The Congress party position in the Assembly was as follows: Congress-18, People's Front-15, Congress dissidents led by Reddiar's faction-5. Thus, without support of Reddiar's faction the Goubert's government could not survive as it falls below the halfway mark of 20 in a house of 39. Removal of Purushothama Reddiar as Speaker On 23 April Purushothama Reddiar resigned from Congress party. He along with four other dissidents joined the opposition. After he left the assembly by declaring sine die along with his dissidents, the deputy speaker Kamichetty Parasuram was asked to act as speaker and Purushothama Reddiar got removed from speaker post unanimously in an unceremonious way.99 The speaker election was necessitated as Puroshottama Reddiar was about to retire as speaker as he along with four dissidents joined the opposition. In April, the dissident group moved away from Congress and voted along People's Front (i.e. the opposition party). Kamisetty Parasuram got elected with support of all the 26 members of the Congress party.97 1958 crisis In another instance, the rivalry between two congress factions peaked in August 1958 and this time it was much severe. The former faction is headed by E. Goubert, the leader of the house and Rangaswami Pillai, leader of the dissident group. The dissidents had a strength of 10 members. This rift got deepened when the dissidents joined the Communist-backed People's Front to elect the Assembly's office bearers (i.e. ministers). Then president of INC, U. N. Dhebar tried to broker peace between the two rival groups in Delhi on 31 August 1958. The main bone of contention between the two factions was over the formation of Council of six ministers. The Congress president had suggested Rangaswami and another dissident in his group, Arul Raj that the disciplinary action taken against them shall be withdrawn, provided some compromise is brought between the two faction to bring back unity. Then chief minister of Madras, K. Kamaraj was suggested to intervene to sort out this issue.https://books.google.com/books?id=TOYmAQAAIAAJ Civic Affairs, Volume 6, Issues 1-4 S.P. Mehra Citizen Press at Kanpur 1958109 But the deadlock remained leading to the intervention of the commissioner.October 2022 Early dissolution The government led by Congress was not stable as the ruling party was ridden with personal strifes and factions. Finally, the Government of India had to intervene finally by dissolving the Assembly following the instability caused by the change of party affiliation of members. Then, the Chief Commissioner took over the administration in October 1958. Later, after nine months, second general elections were held to the Pondicherry Representative Assembly in 1959.K. K. Rajagopalan 12 September 1959 Pondicherry Assembly Elections An Analysis https://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1959_11/37/pondicherry_assembly_electionsan_analysis.pdf The Economic Weekly 10 June 2020 6 June 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200606152924/https://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/1959_11/37/pondicherry_assembly_electionsan_analysis.pdf dead See also Government of Puducherry List of chief ministers of Puducherry List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry Puducherry Legislative Assembly Pondicherry Representative Assembly 1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election 1959 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election References Notes note Category:Puducherry Legislative Assembly Category:Indian organisations established in 1955 Category:1958 disestablishments in India