List of Chief Ministers of Pondicherry

The administration of the state is moved in the name of the Governor but in practice it is the Chief Minister who runs the administration. The head of the Council of Ministers of Chief Minister. The position of the State Chief Minister is quite the same as that of the Prime-Minister in the centre.

Appointment

The Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor. But the Governor is not free or independent in the appointment of the Chief Minister. He can appoint only the leader of the majority party in Legislative Assembly as the Chief Minister of the state. If the Governor appoints someone else to this post then the administration of the state cannot be run smoothly. If no party commands absolute majority in the Legislative Assembly of the state or the majority party fails to elect its leader, the Governor can use some discretion in appointing the Chief Minister. But he is to see that the Chief Minister can get the support of the majority in the legislature.

#	Assembly	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
01	I Assembly	Edouard Goubert	1 July 1963	24 August 1964	INC
02	II Assembly	V. Venkatasubha Reddiar	11 September 1964	8 April 1967	INC
03	II Assembly	M. O. H. Farook	9 April 1967	5 March 1968	INC
04	II Assembly	V. Venkatasubha Reddiar	6 March 1968	17 September 1968	INC
05	III Assembly	M. O. H. Farook	17 March 1969	2 January 1974	DMK
06	IV Assembly	Subramanyan Ramaswamy	6 March 1974	27 March 1974	AIADMK
07	V Assembly	Subramanyan Ramaswamy	2 July 1977	11 November 1978	AIADMK
08	VI Assembly	M. D. R. Ramachandran	16 January 1980	23 June 1983	DMK
09	VII Assembly	M. O. H. Farook	16 March 1985	4 March 1990	INC
10	VIII Assembly	M. D. R. Ramachandran	8 March 1990	3 March 1991	DMK
		President's Rule	4 March 1991	3 July 1991
11	IX Assembly	V. Vaithilingam	4 July 1991	13 May 1996	INC
12	X Assembly	R. V. Janakiraman	26 May 1996	21 March 2000	DMK
13	X Assembly	P. Shanmugam	22 March 2000	15 May 2001	INC
14	XI Assembly	P. Shanmugam	24 May 2001	26 October 2001	INC
15	XI Assembly	N. Rangaswamy	27 October 2001	4 September 2008	INC
16	XII Assembly	V. Vaithilingam	4 September 2008	14 May 2011	INC
17	XIII Assembly	N. Rangaswamy	17 May 2011	Present	AINRC