V Vaithilingam, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress in Puducherry, is currently trailing on the Thattanchavady seat as per the latest trends as the voting for Assembly elections continues in the Union Territory. He is currently a Member of Parliament representing Puducherry in the Lok Sabha and has also served twice as Puducherry’s chief minister. Track live updates on Puducherry counting
Background
Vaithilingam entered politics in the early 1980s, contesting his first Assembly election in 1980 at the age of 30, where he lost by a narrow margin. He was elected to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly in 1985 and served as Minister for Public Works and Power until 1990. He rose to prominence within the Congress party and became Chief Minister of Puducherry in 1991 at the age of 40, making him one of the youngest to hold the office.
He served as chief minister from 1991 to 1996, and also led the Congress Legislative Party during this period. His government focused on fiscal discipline, expansion of private participation in public transport, and improvement of healthcare systems. After the 1996 elections, although Congress emerged as the largest party, it did not form the government, and he served as Leader of Opposition until 1999.
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He continued to remain active in state politics, holding various positions including Minister for Agriculture and Industries (2006–2008). He again became Chief Minister from 2008 to 2011. Later, he served as Speaker of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly in 2016 before transitioning to national politics in 2019.
What happened in the last elections?
The constituency has seen repeated representation by senior leaders, most notably Vaithilingam, who won the seat multiple times and represented it for several terms under the Indian National Congress. He served as MLA from Nettapakkam in elections held in 1985, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006, making it one of his strongest political bases. During this period, he also held major positions including Chief Minister of Puducherry.
Before his dominance, the seat saw alternating representation, including V. Venkatasubha Reddiar (Congress) in the early years and M. D. R. Ramachandran (DMK) in 1969. In 1980, R. Subbaraya Gounder of the Janata Party also won the constituency, showing early electoral competition.
In the 2011 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election, the constituency shifted away from long-time Congress control when L. Periyasamy of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the seat. This marked a break in Congress dominance in Nettapakkam.
After being elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019, Vaithilingam became a member of Parliament representing Puducherry .
In the 2021 Assembly election, the seat was then contested and won by P. Rajavelu, from the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
