V. Vaithilingam

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V. Vaithilingam
Nettapakkam
Personal details
Born
Vaithilingam

(1950-10-05) 5 October 1950 (age 73)
Pondicherry, Puducherry
Alma materLoyola College, Chennai

V. Vaithilingam (born 5 October 1950) is an Indian politician belonging to the

Chief Minister of Pondicherry from 1991 to 1996 and 16th Chief Minister of Puducherry again from 2008 to 2011. He is a senior legislator serving eight consecutive terms.[1]

He headed the Pondicherry Government from 1991 to 1996 and the Congress Legislative party from 1991 to 2000. His priorities as Chief Minister were to minimize the budget deficit, increase private sector participation in public transport, and improve the health care system. He first became Chief Minister at the age of 40, making him the second youngest Chief Minister of Puducherry.[2]

Early life

He was born at Cuddalore and was raised in his native home Madukarai, Puducherry. After completing his schooling, he went to Loyola College in Chennai and later went to Madukkarai to take care of his family farms. In 1969, Vaithilingam married Miss Sasikala. From an early age, he developed exceptional leadership skills, an example of which was his role as the Chairman of Land Development Bank of Puducherry State.

The Vaithilingam family is known for their work as

Chief Minister of Pondicherry
.

Political career

In 1980, at the age of 30, he ran for the Legislative Assembly and lost by a narrow margin of 90 odd votes. In 1985, Vaithilingam was elected become Public Works and Power Minister, which he served until 1990.[1] From 1991 to 1996 he served as the Chief Minister of Pondicherry. Under his administration, Pondicherry saw a drastic growth in the industrial and education sector. He advocated smaller government and greater participation of the private sector. Vaithilingam also benefited from the management of the economy and the liberalization policies followed by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

In 1996 elections, the Indian National Congress became the single largest party, but their alliance lost the elections and Vaithilingam was appointed the Leader of Opposition until 1999. In 2001, he won from Nettapakkam constituency but was not able to serve as Chief Minister due to being falsely charged with an attempt to corrupt a fellow legislator. He was later acquitted on all charges.[2] During this period, N. Rangaswamy was chosen as Chief Minister and Vaithilingam served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in his cabinet until 2006.

From 2006 to 2008, Vaithilingam served as the Minister of Agriculture and Industries.[1] He was elected Chief Minister in 2008 and he served until 2011. He became Leader of the Opposition in 2011 election and he became Speaker of the House in 2016, and resigned in 2019 after becoming a member of the Parliament of India for Puducherry.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections V. Vaithilingam was chosen to represent the Indian National Congress party, and he defeated All India N.R. Congress candidate Dr. Narayanasamy Kesavan.

Electoral history

Year Post Constituency Party Opponent Opposition Party Result
1980 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC R. Subaraya Gounder JNP Lost
1985 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC P. Ramamurthy DMK Won
1990 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC N. Devadass DMK Won
1991 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC R. Subraya Gounder DMK Won
1996 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC V. Muthunarayanan Independent Won
2001 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC K. Dhanraju PMK Won
2006 M.L.A
Nettapakkam
INC V. Muthunarayanan PMC Won
2011 M.L.A
Kamaraj Nagar
INC Nara Kalainathan CPI Won
2016 M.L.A
Kamaraj Nagar
INC P. Ganesan AIADMK Won
  • Member of Parliament
Year Post Constituency Party Opponent Opposition Party Result
2019 M.P
Puducherry
INC Dr. Narayanasamy Kesavan All India N.R. Congress Won

Comeback

Vaithilingam was falsely charged with an attempt to corrupt a fellow legislator.[4] Although he was found not guilty and acquitted on all charges, Vaithilingam lost his leadership of the Congress Legislative party in 2000. He was for the sixth time elected to the legislature and served as Industries and Power Minister in N.Rangaswamy cabinet in 2006.[5]

Positions held

Political offices
Preceded by
D. Ramachandran
Chief Minister of Pondicherry

4 July 1991–13 May 1996
Succeeded by
R.V. Janakiraman
Preceded by
V.M.C. Ganapathy
Leader of Opposition of Puducherry

26 May 1996–21 March 2000
Succeeded by
R.V. Janakiraman
Preceded by
Chief Minister of Puducherry

4 September 2008–15 May 2011
Succeeded by
Preceded by
A.M.H. Nazeem
Leader of Opposition of Puducherry

2011–2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by
V. Sabapathy
Speaker of Puducherry
10 June 2016–21 Mar. 2019
Succeeded by
V.P. Sivakolundhu

References

External links