V. Vaithilingam

V. Vaithilingam (born 5 October 1950) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress, who currently represents Puducherry in the Lok Sabha. He held the position as 11th 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.

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.

Early life
He was born in 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 freedom fighters against French rule. His paternal grandfather late Vaithilingam Reddiar was the Mayor of Nettapakkam commune during the French rule in Puducherry. His father V. Venkatasubha Reddiar was also a 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. 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. 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. 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

 * Member of the Legislative Assembly


 * Member of Parliament

Comeback
Vaithilingam was falsely charged with an attempt to corrupt a fellow legislator. 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.

Positions held