Assembly during French rule In 1946,
French India (
Inde française) became
Overseas territory (''
Territoire d'outre-mer'') of France. Then a
Representative Assembly (
Assemblée représentative) was created. Thus, in 1946, on 25 October, the representative assembly of 44 members has replaced the general council (
conseil général). The Representative Assembly had 44 seats until merger of Chandernagore in 1951. Later, it reduced to 39 seats.
Merger and formation of Union Territory The French government transferred the four enclaves to the Indian Union under a de facto treaty on 1 November 1954. Later the territory was merged with India on 16 August 1962. On 10 May 1963, the
Indian Parliament enacted the
Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 that came into force on 1 July 1963. This introduced the same pattern of government that prevailed in the rest of the country, but subject to certain limitations. Under Article 239 of the
Indian Constitution, the
President of India appoints an Administrator LG with such designation as he may specify to head the administration of the territory. The
President also appoints the
Chief Minister. The President, on the advice of the
Chief Minister, appoints the other Ministers. The Union Territories Act, 1963 limits the number of elected members of the assembly to 30 and allows the central government to appoint not more than 3 nominated MLAs. The same act ensures that seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes in the legislative assembly. The
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 Thus, the
First Legislative Assembly was formed without an election. Elections for the assembly have been held since 1964. ==Languages==