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

After seizure of couterfeit drugs in Agra, the Puducherry police registered two FIRs and arrested 26 persons for manufacture of fake drugs. A team from Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and Puducherry Drugs Control Department conducted a raid in godown at Mettupalayam.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The U.T.’s transport landscape witnessed a significant shift with the government-owned Puducherry Road Transport Corporation introducing its first fleet of 25 electric buses, reducing the carbon footprint on city’s roads.
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KUMAR SS

Warsi Brothers performing Qawwali at the 11th edition of Remembering Veenapani Festival 2025 held at Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research at Edyanchavady.
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FILE PHOTO

An artist performing at a play by Mallika Taneja at the 11th edition of Remembering Veenapani Festival 2025 held at Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Art Research at Edyanchavady.
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FILE PHOTO

While Puducherry saw a civic infrastructure boost during the year gone by with the completion of a handful of long-pending projects, including a new modern bus stand, other proposals such as the upgrade to railway station are only nearing completion. There was a fair share of scandals — the biggest being a fake drug manufacturing scam now under the CBI scanner. A quick recap of 2025 across politics, civil life, art and culture.

Politics

With the Union Territory heading towards Assembly polls in 2026, the ruling AINRC-BJP combine as well as the Opposition parties were active with the groundwork for the electoral battle ahead.

The ruling front was engaged in an image makeover by inaugurating a slew of projects and laying foundation for mega infrastructure works including, the ₹436-crore grade separator covering a total distance of 3.877 km connecting Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi squares.

The government was able to secure a loan of ₹4,700 crore under the Integrated Infrastructure Development Projects-ADB Loan Assistance for the four regions of the Union Territory. The government also took the legislative route to send across a pro-reform message by bringing key legislations, including the one on ease of doing business.

On the political front, the AINRC after a gap of five years filled the party’s general secretary post with former legislator and one of party’s founding members, N. S. J. Jayabal.

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

The year ended on a high for the saffron party with its new working president Nitin Nabin choosing Puducherry as the first destination for a party event outside the national capital after taking charge.

The Congress, which is aiming big in the upcoming polls after the rout it faced in last Assembly elections, has made efforts to galvanise its workers throughout last year by organising agitations and public campaigns against the AINRC-BJP and the Central government. The Congress was successful in retaining its space in Puducherry politics after losing out to its ally DMK of being the Principal Opposition party in the Union Territory.

The DMK’s focus was on expanding its footprint across the region after the gains the party made in the last Assembly elections. By the close of the year, the Dravidian party was on overdrive inviting leaders from Tamil Nadu, including Ministers, for events. The central leadership has advocated for a Dravidian model of governance in Puducherry.

The year also gave indications on the nature of electoral battle likely to unfold with the decision of actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to contest the polls from the Union Territory and the launch of four regional parties, including the Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi of businessman Jose Charles Martin. 

The pharmaceutical sector was rocked by the busting of an illegal medicine manufacturing racket. After seizure of couterfeit drugs in Agra, the Puducherry police registered two FIRs and arrested 26 persons, including a former IFS officer, and remanded them to judicial custody for manufacture of fake drugs. As the case has inter-State ramifications, the Lieutenant Governor ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and National Investigation Agency.

Transport

Puducherry’s transport landscape witnessed a significant shift with the government-owned Puducherry Transport Corporation (PRTC) introducing its first fleet of 25 electric buses, reducing the carbon footprint on city’s roads.

The shift from fossil fuel to electric buses began after A.S. Sivakumar took charge of the department.

The department took forward the momentum and the government finalised GreenCell Mobility, for the supply and deployment of another 75 electric buses under the PM-ebus Sewa scheme.

As many as 38 e-rickshaws were also introduced this year. The e-rickshaws are operated by women in the Boulevard to enhance last-mile connectivity.

The government inaugurated 15 Smart bus shelters equipped with CCTV cameras and other facilities.

Puducherry also rolled out Caravan tourism aimed at strengthening its tourism appeal by bringing camper vans and caravans under a formal tax structure. The initiative facilitates the issuance of permits not only for Puducherry-registered vehicles, but also for vehicles from other States through a convenient tax system for three, seven and 30-day durations.

Smart Cities Mission

Though the Smart Cities Mission officially ended on March 31, 2025, several key projects in Puducherry, including restoration of Grand Canal, development of Urban Forest Trail at Swadeshi mills and Integrated Command and Control Centre are still in various stages of completion.

Several ambitious projects, including the construction of a multi-level parking lot at the Old Jail Complex on Jawaharlal Nehru Street, reconstruction of Goubert Market, new integrated bus terminus on the East Coast Road, pedestrian pathways, iconic cycle track for 10.3 km and Tertiary Treatment Plant have been dropped.

The bus stand project was dropped as it was outside the ABD area while the market restoration was halted and subsequently dropped following strong protests from traders.

The mini sports stadium at Anna Thidal, reconstructed Rajiv Gandhi bus terminus and restoration of Government Botanical Garden were the only projects that were inaugurated this year after an inordinate delay in completion.

Art and culture

The city’s tradition of free-entry access to high quality entertainment was enhanced through a diversity of events, such as the ‘Indo-French Festival 2025’, Adishakti’s 11th Remembering Veenapani festival, the ‘Month of Reunion Island’ fete hosted by Alliance Francaise or 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, culture buffs were treated to a three-day Indo-French festival supported by the Tourism department that was hodgepodge of livewire rock acts, trip-hop vibes, large-format puppetry and Gallic gastronomy.

The show stealer was French rock musician Jewly, performing alongside Geoffrey Grenier (guitar) and Raphaël Schuler (drums). The fair also featured Lily, part of the pagan-folk group SKALD, rendering music that blends blues, gospel, trip-hop and jazz, a giant puppet show by Frédéric Simon, puppeteer-graphist and an intersection of movement performance and street spaces by Ali Salmi, choreographer-dancer.

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

The artistes, included Smita Bellur, the Rajasthani troupe SAZ, a musical by Mallika Taneja, Yele Oota, a choreographic meditation on food and privilege by the Vishwakiran Nambi Dance Company, and Adishakti’s own presentations, including ‘Urmila’ and ‘Bali’. The electrifying finale featured a Qawwali performance 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 advanced its impresario role, spearheading a variety of cultural events through the year.

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

Among the take-away moments was the concert by Kafmaron, one of the island’s important singer-songwriters, who regaled the audience with shades of the Maloya musical genre and its eclectic fusion of jazz, slam and reggae influences. The concert, featuring Emmanuel Turpin on the keyboard and Romain Aly Beril on guitar, was marked by soulful melody, protest poetry and rousing rhythms.

Apart from exhibitions on heroes who led the resistance to the system of indentured labour on the plantations and conferences by scholars and historians devoted to ‘Engagisme’ (indentured servitude), there was also a musical reading session by the island’s prominent author 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)