Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief V. Vaithilingam, sitting MP, is the Congress’s candidate in Puducherry for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Congress was allotted the Puducherry seat in its alliance with the DMK in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, under the INDIA bloc.
Though the two-time former Chief Minister was widely tipped to be allotted the party ticket, confirmation came when the third list of candidates was released by the Congress Central Election Committee on Thursday (March 21, 2024) night.
A staunch Congress loyalist over a political career spanning five decades, Mr. Vaithilingam belongs to a family from the Reddiar community with a lineage of freedom fighters -- his father V. Venkatasubba Reddiar, former Chief Minister of Puducherry is regarded as the Father of the Liberation movement that culminated in the end of French rule in erstwhile Pondicherry.
As a politician who started out as office-bearer of the Youth Congress at the block level in 1971, his steady rise through the ranks features an extraordinary record of seven wins out of the eight Assembly elections contested -- five times from Nettapakkam, and after it was designated a reserved constituency, twice from Kamaraj Nagar.
Mr. Vaithilingam was Chief Minister twice (1991-96 and 2008-2011). In 2023, he was appointed president of the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee.
Mr. Vaithilingam, who was Speaker during the term of the Congress government led by V. Narayanasamy, quit his post to contest in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The record margin of his win (over 1.97 lakh votes) over his AINRC rival, stood out in the otherwise dour political landscape for the Congress across the country.
