 As the unification movement gathered momentum under Subbiah, the pro-French leader Edouard Goubert switched his loyalty to the pro-merger camp.This movement was coordinated by many leaders like D.K.Ramanujam and Mr. Chandrasekara Reddiar.A momentous event in the freedom movement of Puducherry occurred on 18 March 1954, when the members of the executive council and mayors of Pondicherry and seven adjoining communes proclaimed their decision to merge with India without a referendum.