First Representative Assembly of Pondicherry

After the de-factor 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 were held in 1955 from July 18th to 23rd for 39 constituencies. The election were held on the basis of adult franchise under the State of Pondicherry (Representation of the People) Order, 1955 which prescribed the rules and regulations for the conduct of elections, more or less on the pattern adopted in the Indian Union.[1][2]

1st Representative Assembly of Pondicherry
← Second Representative Assembly of French India Second Pondicherry Representative Assembly →
Assembly Building, rue Victor Simonel, Puducherry, India
Overview
Legislative body	Pondicherry Legislative Assembly
Term	17 August 1955 (1955-08-17) – 28 October 1958 (1958-10-28)
Election	1955 Pondicherry Representative Assembly election
Government	Indian National Congress
Opposition	People's Front
Members	39

Important Members

• President:[note 1]
  • R.L. Purushothama Reddiar from 17 August 1955[3]^:368
• Leader of the House:
  • Maurice Pakkiriswamy Pillai from 17 August 1955[4] to 13 January 1956[5]^:64–65
  • Édouard Goubert from 1956[6] to 24 October 1958
• Leader of opposition:
  • V. Subbiah from 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:   Congress (22)   People's Front (P.F.) (12)   Independent (5)

Members of the First Pondicherry Representative Assembly

S. No	Name	Constituency	Commune	Region	Party
1	Annousamy	Ariankuppam	Ariancoupom	Pondicherry	P.F.
2	Arul Raj	Muthialpet	Pondicherry	Pondicherry	P.F.
3	Arunachalam	Darbaranyeswarar Koil	Tirnoular	Karikal	Congress
4	Asappu Bairavasamy	Oulgaret Town	Oulgaret	Pondicherry	P.F.
5	Barathidasan	Cassicade	Pondicherry	Pondicherry	Congress[note 2]
6	C. E. Barathan	Mahe Town	Mahe	Mahe	Congress
7	Chandrasekhara Chettiar	Archivak–Tavalacoupom	Ariancoupom	Pondicherry	Congress
8	D.Rathinasabapathy Pillai	Néravy Commune	Néravy	Karikal	Congress
9	Édouard Goubert	Bahour	Bahour	Pondicherry	Congress
10	Evariste Dessame	Karikal South	Karikal	Karikal	P.F.
11	Govindaraju	Nellitope Town	Modéliarpeth	Pondicherry	P.F.
12	Joseph Latour	Ouppalaom	Pondicherry	Pondicherry	P.F.
13	K. Sheikh Dawood Maricar	Karikal Town North	Karikal	Karikal	Congress
14	K.S.V. Prasadarao Naidu	Yanam[note 3]	Yanaon	Yanam	Congress
15	Louis Savarih	Villenour Town	Villenour	Pondicherry	Ind.
16	M.M.Hussein	Fifth Bussy Street	Pondicherry	Pondicherry	P.F.
17	Mohamed Yusoof	Karikal Central	Karikal	Karikal	Ind.
18	Padmanabhan	Palloor	Mahé	Mahe	Ind.
19	Murugaswamy Clemanso	Couroussou Coupom	Pondicherry	Pondicherry	P.F.
20	N. Sethuraman Chettiar	Rajbhavan	Pondicherry	Pondicherry	Ind.
21	N. Ranganathan	Saram and Lawspet	Oulgaret	Pondicherry	P.F.
22	Pakkir Mohammed	Oussoudou	Villenour	Pondicherry	P.F.
23	Shanmugam	Nedungadu	Neduncadou	Karikal	P.F.
24	Ramalingam	Calapet	Oulgaret	Pondicherry	Congress
25	R.L. Purushottam Reddiar	Kuruvinattam-Kariambuttur	Bahour	Pondicherry	Congress
26	S. Dakshinamoorthy Mudaliar	Thirumalarayanpattinam South	Grand Aldée	Karikal	Congress
27	Thandapani Kounder	Mannadipet Town	Tiroubouvané	Pondicherry	Congress
28	Thiagaraja Naicker	Embaralam-Kalamandapam	Nettapacom	Pondicherry	Congress
29	Thirukamu Reddi	Sellipet-Souttoukeny	Tiroubouvané	Pondicherry	Congress
30	T. Srinivasa Pillai	Thirumeni Alagar	Cotchéry	Karikal	Congress
31	U. Rangaswamy Pillai	Thirumalayapattinam North	Grand Aldée	Karikal	Congress
32	Venkatasubba Reddiar	Nettapakkam Town	Nettapacom	Pondicherry	Congress
33	V.N.Purushottaman	Pandakkal	Mahe	Mahe	Ind.
34	V.Narayanaswamy	Reddiarpalayam Town	Oulgaret	Pondicherry	P.F.
35	V.Ramalingam Pillai	Badrakaliamman Kovil	Tirnoular	Karikal	Congress
36	V.Ramaswamy Pillai	Kottuchery-Mathakovil	Cotchéry	Karikal	Congress
37	V. Subbiah	Murugapakkam	Modéliarpeth	Pondicherry	P.F.
38	Y.Jagannadha Rao	Yanam[note 4]	Yanaon	Yanam	Congress
39	M. Pakkiriswamy Pillai	Karikovil Pathan[note 5]	Karikal	Karikal	Congress

Dissolution

However, the government 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.[9]

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

1. "India, A Reference Annual 1956" (PDF). Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. Publications Division. 1956. p. 494.
2. "Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature". G.C.Malhotra. Metropolitan Book Co. Pvt. Ltd. 1964. p. 464.
3. S., Geetha (2008). Society and politics in French India: merger and anti-merger alignments in the Mid-Twentieth century (PhD). Pondicherry University.
4. "The Encyclopaedia of Indian National Congress". A. Moin Zaidi. S. Chand Publications. 1976. p. 229.
5. Shriman Narayan, K.P.Madhavan Nair (1956). "Report Of The General Secretaries" (PDF). Indian National Congress.
6. "Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru" (PDF). Jawaharlal Nehru. Oxford University Press. 1961. p. 156.
7. "Bharathidasan: Life". Pāppaṇṇā Paramēsvaran̲. Anu Pathippagam. 1991. p. 39.
8. "All India Election Guide". R. V. Krishna Ayyar. Oriental Publishers. 1956. pp. 167, 464.
9. K. K., Rajagopalan (September 12, 1959). "Pondicherry Assembly Elections An Analysis" (PDF). The Economic Weekly. Retrieved 10 June 2020.

Notes

1. Equivalent to Speaker in contemporary Indian assemblies
2. i.e. Won on P.F. ticket,[7] but, among three who joined Congress after elections
3. i.e. Kanakalpeta constituency
4. i.e. Adi Andhrapeta constituency
5. i.e. The seat fell vacant after Pakkiriswamy Pillai's death in January 1956.[8]