PUDUCHERRY: By guiding the AINRC-led NDA in Puducherry to claim 18 out of the 30 seats, N Rangasamy became the chief minister for the fifth time, a feat unparalleled in the Union Territory’s history.
Leading a Congress government, the 76-year-old Rangasamy first became CM in 2001, and then again in 2006, steering a Congress government one more time. However, he was forced to resign in 2008 due to political issues.
He broke away from Congress and floated the All India NR Congress, his party, just ahead of the 2011 election. He won the election the same year in alliance with the AIADMK and became the CM for the third time.
Though his party lost the 2016 elections by going it alone, he again became the CM in 2021 for the fourth time, after the AINRC-BJP alliance won the election. The same alliance once again has emerged victorious, setting the stage for his fifth term.
Rangasamy won his first election from Thattanchavady as a Congress candidate in 1991 and went on to become the Agriculture Minister in the Congress government led by V Vaithilingam.
Thereafter, he has won consecutively in 1996, 2001 and 2006 as Congress candidate and then in 2011, 2016, 2021, and 2026 as AINRC candidate.
