Representative Assembly of French India

During the start of Fourth Republic, by decree nº 46-2381, dated 25 October 1946, passed by the Government of France instituting a Representative Assembly in the French India.[3]^:1027–1041 People of both genders have been allowed to vote. This assembly had 44 seats in total. A member of this assembly was referred as Councillor. The seat of the representative assembly is assigned at Pondichéry and the tenure is fixed to be 5 years.

French India consisted of five establishments, namely, Pondichéry, Chandernagore, Karikal, Mahé and Yanaon. The allocation of 44 seats of the Assemblée Représentative of French India for the 17 communes of French India. Établissements de Pondichéry and Karikal had eight and six electoral constituencies (circonscription électorales), respectively. While, Chandernagore, Mahé and Yanaon had one electoral constituency, respectively.[3]^:1044–1046

As per Article 2 of the decree, the composition of the assembly is determined as below[3]^:1028

• Établissement de Pondichéry (total 22 seats)
  • Pondichéry: 6
  • Ariancoupom: 2
  • Bahour: 2
  • Modéliarpeth: 2
  • Oulgaret: 4
  • Nettapacom: 2
  • Tiroubouvané: 2
  • Villenour: 2
• Établissement de Karikal (total 12 seats)
  • Karaikal Ville: 4
  • Cotchéry: 2
  • Grand'Aldée: 2
  • Neravy: 1
  • Nédouncadou: 1
  • Tirnoular: 2
• Établissement de Chandernagore (total 5 seats)
  • Chandernagore (Chef-lieu de commune)
• Établissement de Mahé (total 3 seats)
  • Mahé: 3
• Établissement de Yanaon (total 2 seats)
  • Yanaon: 2

This Assembly met twice in ordinary sessions of 30 days duration and twice in extraordinary sessions of 15 days. It was called either by the Governor or by two-thirds of the members, if necessary on the prerequisite. The President of the Assembly was selected on the basis of seniority by age. The Assembly was permitted to deliberate and give its opinion on matters referred to it. The Governor or head of the French Indian administration assured the implementation of the decisions or opinions of the Assembly. The budget prepared by the Governor and his council was discussed and it was implemented by his order. In fact the Assembly and the Governor shared the initiative of incurring state expenditure. In short, the Assembly was nothing more than an approving body as the Head of French India was endowed with the power of overriding the decision or opinion of the Assembly. In reality, it could not take up or discuss matters which were not submitted before it, and from that point of view its scope was very restricted.[2]^:99–101

Chandernagore has been merged into Indian Union by a referendum held on 19 June 1949, where its people overwhelmingly voted for merger with India. The de-facto transfer of Chandernagore to the Indian Union took place on 2 May 1950.[4] This changed the strength of the representative assembly to 39 seats.

The first election to the Representative Assembly was held on 15 December 1946.[5][6] The election was won by the National Democratic Front of Deiva Zivarattinam, that won 30 out of 44 seats.[5][6]

The second election to the Representative Assembly was held on 16 December 1951.[5][7]

The de-facto transfer of French settlements in India has happened on 1 November 1954. These four french settlements were organized as State of Pondicherry.

On 11 June 1955, The Government of India has dissolved the Representative Assembly of the State of Pondicherry via State of Pondicherry (Representative Assembly Decree Amendment) Order.[8] Later, Pondicherry Representative Assembly has been created that functioned until 1964. After the de-factor merger and before the legal integration (i.e. de jure transfer) with the Indian Union on 16 August 1962, general elections to the assembly were held in 1955 and 1959. The French settlements in India were de jure transferred on 16 August 1962.

• Pondicherry Representative Assembly
• Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• Municipal Administration in French India
• French colonial empire
• French India