Why does Puducherry have a legislature despite being a UT?

Puducherry's Assembly exists because India preserved and reconstituted the elected representative system it had as a French colony. Delhi has a legislature due to its political significance, and J&K retained one after its 2019 reorganisation as a Union Territory. After merging with India in 1962, Puducherry's legislature was formally established under the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963.