Puducherry bid adieu to 2025 marked by robust changes in political, social and cultural milieu

While Puducherry saw a civic infrastructure boost during the twelvemonth gone by with the completion of a fistful of long-pending projects, including a caller modern autobus stand, different proposals specified arsenic the upgrade to railway presumption are lone nearing completion. There was a just stock of scandals — the biggest being a fake cause manufacturing scam present nether the CBI scanner. A speedy recap of 2025 crossed politics, civilian life, creation and culture.

Politics

With the Union Territory heading towards Assembly polls successful 2026, the ruling AINRC-BJP harvester arsenic good arsenic the Opposition parties were progressive with the groundwork for the electoral conflict ahead.

The ruling beforehand was engaged successful an representation makeover by inaugurating a slew of projects and laying instauration for mega infrastructure works including, the ₹436-crore grade separator covering a full region of 3.877 km connecting Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi squares.

The authorities was capable to unafraid a indebtedness of ₹4,700 crore nether the Integrated Infrastructure Development Projects-ADB Loan Assistance for the 4 regions of the Union Territory. The authorities besides took the legislative way to nonstop crossed a pro-reform connection by bringing cardinal legislations, including the 1 connected easiness of doing business.

On the governmental front, the AINRC aft a spread of 5 years filled the party’s wide caput station with erstwhile legislator and 1 of party’s founding members, N. S. J. Jayabal.

The AINRC’s ally, BJP, moved into apical cogwheel arsenic acold arsenic organisational works were concerned. In April itself, the party’s Central enactment made Union Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Arjun Ram Meghwal arsenic BJP’s in-charge for the 2026 polls. The assignment was followed by a day-long ‘Chintan Baithak (brainstorming session)’ for enactment workers.

The twelvemonth ended connected a precocious for the saffron enactment with its caller moving president Nitin Nabin choosing Puducherry arsenic the archetypal destination for a enactment lawsuit extracurricular the nationalist superior aft taking charge.

The Congress, which is aiming large successful the upcoming polls aft the rout it faced successful past Assembly elections, has made efforts to galvanise its workers passim past twelvemonth by organising agitations and nationalist campaigns against the AINRC-BJP and the Central government. The Congress was palmy successful retaining its abstraction successful Puducherry authorities aft losing retired to its state DMK of being the Principal Opposition enactment successful the Union Territory.

The DMK’s absorption was connected expanding its footprint crossed the portion aft the gains the enactment made successful the past Assembly elections. By the adjacent of the year, the Dravidian enactment was connected overdrive inviting leaders from Tamil Nadu, including Ministers, for events. The cardinal enactment has advocated for a Dravidian exemplary of governance successful Puducherry.

The twelvemonth besides gave indications connected the quality of electoral conflict apt to unfold with the determination of histrion Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to contention the polls from the Union Territory and the motorboat of 4 determination parties, including the Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi of businessman Jose Charles Martin. 

The pharmaceutical assemblage was rocked by the busting of an amerciable medicine manufacturing racket. After seizure of couterfeit drugs successful Agra, the Puducherry constabulary registered 2 FIRs and arrested 26 persons, including a erstwhile IFS officer, and remanded them to judicial custody for manufacture of fake drugs. As the lawsuit has inter-State ramifications, the Lieutenant Governor ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and National Investigation Agency.

Transport

Puducherry’s transport scenery witnessed a important displacement with the government-owned Puducherry Transport Corporation (PRTC) introducing its archetypal fleet of 25 electrical buses, reducing the c footprint connected city’s roads.

The displacement from fossil substance to electrical buses began aft A.S. Sivakumar took complaint of the department.

The section took guardant the momentum and the authorities finalised GreenCell Mobility, for the proviso and deployment of different 75 electrical buses nether the PM-ebus Sewa scheme.

As galore arsenic 38 e-rickshaws were besides introduced this year. The e-rickshaws are operated by women successful the Boulevard to heighten last-mile connectivity.

The authorities inaugurated 15 Smart autobus shelters equipped with CCTV cameras and different facilities.

Puducherry besides rolled retired Caravan tourism aimed astatine strengthening its tourism entreaty by bringing camper vans and caravans nether a ceremonial taxation structure. The inaugural facilitates the issuance of permits not lone for Puducherry-registered vehicles, but besides for vehicles from different States done a convenient taxation strategy for three, 7 and 30-day durations.

Smart Cities Mission

Though the Smart Cities Mission officially ended connected March 31, 2025, respective cardinal projects successful Puducherry, including restoration of Grand Canal, improvement of Urban Forest Trail astatine Swadeshi mills and Integrated Command and Control Centre are inactive successful assorted stages of completion.

Several ambitious projects, including the operation of a multi-level parking batch astatine the Old Jail Complex connected Jawaharlal Nehru Street, reconstruction of Goubert Market, caller integrated autobus terminus connected the East Coast Road, pedestrian pathways, iconic rhythm way for 10.3 km and Tertiary Treatment Plant person been dropped.

The autobus basal task was dropped arsenic it was extracurricular the ABD country portion the marketplace restoration was halted and subsequently dropped pursuing beardown protests from traders.

The mini sports stadium astatine Anna Thidal, reconstructed Rajiv Gandhi autobus terminus and restoration of Government Botanical Garden were the lone projects that were inaugurated this twelvemonth aft an inordinate hold successful completion.

Art and culture

The city’s contented of free-entry entree to precocious prime amusement was enhanced done a diverseness of events, specified arsenic the ‘Indo-French Festival 2025’, Adishakti’s 11th Remembering Veenapani festival, the ‘Month of Reunion Island’ fete hosted by Alliance Francaise oregon Aurodhan’s evenings with the Kabir bani exponent Prahlad Singh Tipanya and a jugalbandi by ace percussionist Sivamani and mandolin virtuoso U. Rajesh.

In February, civilization buffs were treated to a three-day Indo-French festival supported by the Tourism section that was hodgepodge of livewire stone acts, trip-hop vibes, large-format puppetry and Gallic gastronomy.

The amusement stealer was French stone instrumentalist Jewly, performing alongside Geoffrey Grenier (guitar) and Raphaël Schuler (drums). The just besides featured Lily, portion of the pagan-folk radical SKALD, rendering euphony that blends blues, gospel, trip-hop and jazz, a elephantine puppet amusement by Frédéric Simon, puppeteer-graphist and an intersection of question show and thoroughfare spaces by Ali Salmi, choreographer-dancer.

As April unfurled connected the calendar, the curtain went up connected Adishakti’s tribute festival to its laminitis and experimental theatre pioneer Veenapani Chawla. The fete saw an exceptional lineup of artists and performances, ranging from soulful Sufi, Qawwali and Rajasthani people to theatrical re-interpretation of the epics and modern performances.

The artistes, included Smita Bellur, the Rajasthani troupe SAZ, a philharmonic by Mallika Taneja, Yele Oota, a choreographic meditation connected nutrient and privilege by the Vishwakiran Nambi Dance Company, and Adishakti’s ain presentations, including ‘Urmila’ and ‘Bali’. The electrifying finale featured a Qawwali show by the Warsi Brothers — Naseer and Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi — the torchbearers of the Delhi gharana and descendants of disciples trained by the legendary 14th-century Sufi mystic Amir Khusro.

The Alliance Francaise precocious its impresario role, spearheading a assortment of taste events done the year.

A item was the ‘Month of Reunion Island’ that filled up October with concerts, movie screenings, lectures, conferences, publication talks, workshops, and exhibitions, to item multifarious aspects of Reunion Island, which is location to volcanic landscapes, vibrant music, and surviving traditions shaped by intersecting influences of Africa, Europe, and Asia (India).

Among the take-away moments was the performance by Kafmaron, 1 of the island’s important singer-songwriters, who regaled the assemblage with shades of the Maloya philharmonic genre and its eclectic fusion of jazz, slam and reggae influences. The concert, featuring Emmanuel Turpin connected the keyboard and Romain Aly Beril connected guitar, was marked by soulful melody, protestation poesy and rousing rhythms.

Apart from exhibitions connected heroes who led the absorption to the strategy of indentured labour connected the plantations and conferences by scholars and historians devoted to ‘Engagisme’ (indentured servitude), determination was besides a philharmonic speechmaking league by the island’s salient writer Gaëlle Bélem, whose ‘There’s a Monster Behind the Door’ was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025.

(With inputs from Rajesh B. Nair and S. Prasad)