Birth anniversary of first CM of Puducherry celebrated

: Chief Minister N Rangasamy garlanded the statue of the first CM of the union territory Edouard Goubert on his 120th birth anniversary today.
Goubert was the first Chief Minister of Puducherry after de jure liberation in 1962. He was also Mayor of Puducherry and led the Congress party as its president here.
Among those who paid floral tributes at the leader's statue in Bharathi Park were Ministers, legislators, delegates of various voluntary organisations and leaders of various political parties.
PCC president A V Subramanian led party cadres to pay homage at Goubert's statue after a function in the party office.

Goubert was popularly called 'papa Goubert' (father Goubert) and because of his close rapport with the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, brought about many developmental projects after merger of Puducherry, chief among which was establishment of JIPMER.
He headed the Puducherry Municipal council established under the French system of Municipal Administration from 1968 to 1973. He was fluent in French.