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.

Speaker of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
Président de l'Assemblée législative de Pondichéry
Incumbent Embalam R. Selvam since 16 June 2021
Appointer	Members of Puducherry Legislative Assembly
Term length	5 years no renewable limit
Inaugural holder	A. S. Gangeyan
Formation	22 July 1963; 61 years ago
Deputy	P. Rajavelu (since 25 August 2021)

History

The Pondicherry 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^[1] and its members (who got elected in 1959) were deemed to have been elected to the Legislative Assembly.^[2]: 966 The elections for the Puducherry Vidhan Sabha held since 1964.

List of the speakers and deputy speakers

The tenure of different speakers of Puducherry Legislative Assembly is given below^{[3][2]: 968}
Keys:   All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)   All India N.R. Congress (AINRC)   Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)   Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)   Indian National Congress (INC)

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party		Deputy Speaker	No. of Assembly	Election
1	A. S. Gangeyan	22 July 1963	18 September 1964	Indian National Congress		Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu (27 Nov. 1963 – 24 Aug. 1964)	1st	1959
2	M. O. H. Farook	19 September 1964	19 March 1967			V. N. Purushothaman (25 Sep. 1964 – 17 Sep. 1968)	2nd	1964
3	P. Shanmugam	30 March 1967	9 March 1968
4	S. Manicka Vasagam	25 March 1968	17 September 1968
-	Vacant[note 1] (President's rule)[a]	18 September 1968	17 March 1969	N/A		Vacant
5	S. Perumal	22 March 1969	2 December 1971	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		M.L. Selvaradjou (26 Mar. 1969 – 28 Mar. 1972)	3rd	1969
6	M.L. Selvaradjou	29 March 1972	3 January 1974	Indian National Congress		Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu (5 Apr. 1972 – 2 Jan. 1974)
-	Vacant[note 2] (President's rule)	3 January 1974	6 March 1974	N/A		Vacant
7	S. Pakkiam	26 March 1974	28 March 1974	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		-	4th	1974
-	Vacant[note 3] (President's rule)	28 March 1974	2 July 1977	N/A		Vacant
8	K. Kanthi	2 July 1977	12 November 1978	Indian National Congress		S. Pazhaninathan (11 Aug. 1977 – 11 Nov. 1978)	5th	1977
-	Vacant[note 4] (President's rule)	12 November 1978	16 January 1980	N/A		Vacant
9	M. O. H. Farook[note 5]	16 January 1980	24 June 1983	Indian National Congress		L.Joseph Mariadoss (29 Jan. 1980 – 23 Jun. 1983)	6th	1980
-	Vacant[note 6] (President's rule)	24 June 1983	16 March 1985	N/A		Vacant
10	Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu	16 March 1985	19 January 1989	Indian National Congress		M. Chandirakasu (29 Mar. 1985 – 28 Mar. 1989)	7th	1985
11	M. Chandirakasu	29 March 1989	5 March 1990			P.K. Sathianandan (5 Apr. 1989 – 4 Mar. 1990)
12	G. Palaniraja	22 Mar. 1990	3 Mar. 1991	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		A. Bakthavatchalam (29 Mar. 1990 – 3 Mar. 1991)	8th	1990
-	Vacant[note 7] (President's rule)	22 Mar. 1991	4 Jul. 1991	N/A		Vacant
13	P. Kannan[note 8]	26 Jul. 1991	13 May 1996	Indian National Congress		A. V. Subramanian (31 Jul. 1991 – 13 May 1996)	9th	1991
14	V.M.C. Sivakumar	10 Jul. 1996	18 Mar. 2000	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		V. Nagarathinam (13 Jun. 1996 – 23 May 1997) M. Kandasamy (23 Aug. 1997 – 30 May 2000) K. Rajasekaran (30 May 2000 – 15 May 2001)	10th	1996
-	M. Kandasamy[note 9]	27 Mar. 2000	27 Mar. 2000	Tamil Maanila Congress
15	A.V. Subramanian	24 May 2000	31 May 2001	Indian National Congress
16	M.D.R. Ramachandran	11 Jun. 2001	26 May 2006			M. Chandirakasu (5 Jul. 2001 – 10 Nov. 2001) A.V. Subramanian (12 Dec. 2001 – 11 May 2006)	11th	2001
17	R. Radhakrishnan	1 Jun. 2006[5]	May 2011			A.V. Sreedharan (1 Jun. 2006[5] - 3 Sep. 2008) V. Vaithilingam (4 Sep. 2008 - N.A.)	12th	2006
18	V. Sabapathy	29 Jun 2011[6]	May 2016	All India N.R. Congress		T. P. R. Selvame (2 Nov 2011[7] - May 2016)	13th	2011
19	V. Vaithilingam	10 Jun 2016[8]	21 Mar. 2019[9]	Indian National Congress		V.P. Sivakolundhu (10 Jun 2016 - 2. Jun. 2019)	14th	2016
20	V.P. Sivakolundhu	3 Jun. 2019[10]	3 May 2021			M. N. R. Balan (4 Sep. 2019[11]- 3 May 2021)
21	Embalam R. Selvam	16 June 2021[12]	Incumbent	Bharatiya Janata Party		P. Rajavelu (25 Aug. 2021[13]-Till date)	15th	2021

See also

• Government of Puducherry
• List of chief ministers of Puducherry
• List of leaders of the opposition in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry
• Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• Pondicherry Representative Assembly
• Elections in Puducherry

References

1. "The Government of Union Territories Act, 1963" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
2. Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature. Lok Sabha Secretariat. 2004. ISBN 9788120004009. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
3. "Union Territory of Pondicherry".
4. Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.
5. "Radhakrishnan elected Speaker of Pondy Assembly". The Hindu. 2 June 2006. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
6. "Sabapathy set to become Puducherry Speaker". Zee news. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
7. "Sabapathy set to become Puducherry Speaker". New Indian Express. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
8. "Former CM V Vaithilingam unanimously elected as Speaker". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
9. ANI (22 March 2019). "V Vaithilingam resigns as Puducherry Assembly Speaker". Business Standard India. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
10. "Sivakolundhu set to be elected Pondy Assembly Speaker". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
11. "M.N.R. Balan assumes charge as Puducherry Deputy Speaker". The Hindu. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
12. "BJP's 'Embalam' Selvam set to be elected Speaker of Puducherry Assembly". 15 June 2021.
13. "Rajavelou elected Puducherry Deputy Speaker". The Hindu. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2022.

Notes

1. Assembly dissolved after fall of DMK government following decision of two ministers to join newly formed ADMK.
2. Assembly was dissolved and president's rule imposed as opposition parties had a chance to form a government after the fall of the Congress government.
3. Fall of coalition government of ADMK, Congress(O) following division of votes by Congress(R) and DMK. The Assembly was dissolved.
4. Fall of government due to political instability.
5. Second term.
6. Government dismissed following withdrawal of Congress(I) from coalition government. In spite of incumbent chief minister asking for an opportunity to prove his majority on the floor of the house, the assembly was dissolved.
7. DMK Government dismissed in spite of having a majority in the Assembly.
8. Deputy Speaker Shri A.V. Subramanian chaired the debate on the Motion of Confidence of 10 October 1994 and the Motion of No-confidence of 28 September 1995.^[2]: 968
9. Deputy Speaker M. Kandasamy chaired the debate on the Motion of Confidence on that day.^[2]: 968

Footnotes

1. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.^[4]