Template:Infobox election Elections to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly were held in March 1980, to elect members of the 30 constituencies in Puducherry (then known as Pondicherry), in India.[1][2] The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won the popular vote and the most seats, and M. D. R. Ramachandran was appointed as the Chief Minister of Puducherry.[3][4]
Background
After sweeping to power in Tamil Nadu in June 1977, M. G. Ramachandran led the AIADMK to victory in the Puducherry Assembly election in October, winning 14 seats , aided by the shared language and cultural ties between the two regions.
In 1978, Prime Minister Morarji Desai proposed merging smaller Union Territories with neighbouring states. Puducherry, a former French enclave, was considered for merger with Tamil Nadu (along with Karaikal), while Mahe and Yanam were proposed to be merged with Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. However, provisions in the treaty with France required the preservation of Puducherry’s distinct identity and mandated prior consultation with the French government before any change in its status.[5]
MGR reportedly supported the proposal, describing it as a “bitter but helpful medicine,” triggering widespread opposition across the Union Territory. Despite being in power, local AIADMK leaders and cadres opposed the move. The AIADMK government was dismissed in November 1978, and anti-merger agitations in January 1979 turned violent. Following strong resistance from the opposition parties like DMK and Congress, the Centre abandoned the proposal. The controversy over a proposed merger, significantly dented AIADMK’s popularity, leading to its rout in the 1980 election, where it failed to win a single seat, paving the way for the DMK to form the government.
In the subsequent decades, political instability, defections, and dependence on the Centre, seen as contradictory to the Dravidian parties AIADMK and DMK advocacy of state autonomy, reportedly led them to view Puducherry as a political burden. Consequently, from the 1990s onward, their reduced focus enabled the Indian National Congress to re-emerge as a dominant force in the Union Territory.[6]
Results
Elected members
| Assembly Constituency | Turnout | Winner | Runner Up | Margin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #k | Names | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |||
| 1 | Muthialpet | 78.09% | G. Palani Raja | Template:Party name with color | 7,396 | 63.71% | A. V. Vaithilingam | Template:Party name with color | 3,456 | 29.77% | 3,940 | ||
| 2 | Cassicade | 72.91% | V. Kathirvelu | Template:Party name with color | 3,948 | 51.63% | Ansari P. Duraisamy | Template:Party name with color | 1,716 | 22.44% | 2,232 | ||
| 3 | Raj Bhavan | 65.46% | L. Joseph Mariadass | Template:Party name with color | 1,880 | 45.92% | V. Subbiah | Template:Party name with color | 1,082 | 26.43% | 798 | ||
| 4 | Bussy | 73.12% | C. M. Achraff | Template:Party name with color | 2,898 | 69.36% | R. P. Joseph | Template:Party name with color | 716 | 17.14% | 2,182 | ||
| 5 | Oupalam | 77.39% | Sitha Vedanayagam | Template:Party name with color | 5,419 | 70.06% | C. N. Parthasarathy | Template:Party name with color | 2,177 | 28.14% | 3,242 | ||
| 6 | Orleampeth | 75.61% | Na. Manimaran Alias Na. Marimuthu | Template:Party name with color | 5,721 | 59.70% | P. K. Loganathan | Template:Party name with color | 2,820 | 29.43% | 2,901 | ||
| 7 | Nellithope | 77.64% | P. Ramalingam | Template:Party name with color | 4,019 | 53.80% | B. Manimaran | Template:Party name with color | 2,110 | 28.25% | 1,909 | ||
| 8 | Mudaliarpet | 82.30% | V. Kothandaraman Sababathy | Template:Party name with color | 5,258 | 48.39% | M. Manjini | Template:Party name with color | 2,950 | 27.15% | 2,308 | ||
| 9 | Ariankuppam | 81.94% | P. Subbarayan | Template:Party name with color | 5,900 | 57.57% | M. Pandurangan | Template:Party name with color | 3,628 | 35.40% | 2,272 | ||
| 10 | Embalam | 83.58% | G. Murugesan | Template:Party name with color | 5,033 | 68.30% | N. Ramajayam | Template:Party name with color | 1,773 | 24.06% | 3,260 | ||
| 11 | Nettapakkam | 89.86% | R. Subbaraya Gounder | Template:Party name with color | 4,201 | 49.89% | V. Vaithilingam | Template:Party name with color | 4,076 | 48.40% | 125 | ||
| 12 | Kuruvinatham | 88.52% | M. A. Shanmugam | Template:Party name with color | 3,738 | 42.59% | K. R. Subramaniya Padayachi | Template:Party name with color | 2,725 | 31.05% | 1,013 | ||
| 13 | Bahour | 84.08% | P. Uthiravelu | Template:Party name with color | 4,154 | 51.40% | A. Ramamurthy | Template:Party name with color | 2,562 | 31.70% | 1,592 | ||
| 14 | Thirubuvanai | 79.81% | P. Cattavarayane | Template:Party name with color | 6,001 | 72.08% | D. Annamalai | Template:Party name with color | 2,269 | 27.26% | 3,732 | ||
| 15 | Mannadipet | 89.22% | D. Ramachandran | Template:Party name with color | 5,598 | 61.09% | S. Manickavachakan | Template:Party name with color | 3,566 | 38.91% | 2,032 | ||
| 16 | Ossudu | 80.70% | P. Murthy | Template:Party name with color | 5,122 | 66.48% | K. Dhakshinamurthy | Template:Party name with color | 2,374 | 30.82% | 2,748 | ||
| 17 | Villianur | 82.20% | M. Venugopal | Template:Party name with color | 3,810 | 44.23% | S. Sellappan Alias Meenakshisundaram | Template:Party name with color | 3,065 | 35.58% | 745 | ||
| 18 | Ozhukarai | 84.39% | G. Perumal Raja | Template:Party name with color | 5,493 | 65.98% | R. Somasimdara | Template:Party name with color | 2,685 | 32.25% | 2,808 | ||
| 19 | Thattanchavady | 78.86% | V. Pethaperumal | Template:Party name with color | 4,824 | 48.85% | N. Kandeban | Template:Party name with color | 2,554 | 25.86% | 2,270 | ||
| 20 | Reddiarpalayam | 76.53% | Renuka Appadurai | Template:Party name with color | 5,409 | 52.49% | N. Gurusamy | Template:Party name with color | 2,516 | 24.42% | 2,893 | ||
| 21 | Lawspet | 82.88% | M. O. H. Farook | Template:Party name with color | 8,980 | 78.68% | G. Gopalakrishnan | Template:Party name with color | 2,126 | 18.63% | 6,854 | ||
| 22 | Cotchery | 84.62% | G. Panjavarnam | Template:Party name with color | 4,133 | 49.93% | T. Subbaiya | Template:Party name with color | 2,504 | 30.25% | 1,629 | ||
| 23 | Karaikal North | 68.80% | V. M. Salih Maricar | Template:Party name with color | 4,778 | 55.25% | M. Jembulingam | Template:Party name with color | 2,194 | 25.37% | 2,584 | ||
| 24 | Karaikal South | 78.17% | S. Savarirajan | Template:Party name with color | 4,867 | 64.40% | S. Ramassamy | Template:Party name with color | 2,218 | 29.35% | 2,649 | ||
| 25 | Neravy T R Pattinam | 83.00% | V. M. C. Sivakumar | Template:Party name with color | 5,315 | 57.35% | V. M. C. Varada Pillai | Template:Party name with color | 3,953 | 42.65% | 1,362 | ||
| 26 | Thirunallar | 84.00% | N. V. Ramalingam | Template:Party name with color | 3,573 | 44.44% | A. Soundararengam | Template:Party name with color | 3,400 | 42.29% | 173 | ||
| 27 | Nedungadu | 83.45% | M. Chandirakasu | Template:Party name with color | 4,981 | 65.23% | P. Natesan | Template:Party name with color | 1,751 | 22.93% | 3,230 | ||
| 28 | Mahe | 77.20% | K. V. Raghavan | Template:Party name with color | 2,638 | 48.17% | C. V. Sulaiman Hajee | Template:Party name with color | 2,174 | 39.70% | 464 | ||
| 29 | Palloor | 80.07% | N. K. Sachindranath | Template:Party name with color | 2,567 | 45.89% | A. V. Sreedharan | Template:Party name with color | 2,467 | 44.10% | 100 | ||
| 30 | Yanam | 87.41% | Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu | Template:Party name with color | 2,433 | 48.43% | Abdul Khader Jeelani Mohammed | Template:Party name with color | 2,165 | 43.09% | 268 | ||
See also
References
- ↑ Explained: Puducherry, the territory of coalitions and President's Rule(26 March 2021). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ↑ Union Territory of Pondicherry Assembly - General Elections - 1980. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ↑ Big trouble in little Puducherry. The New Indian Express(28 March 2021). Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ↑ Pondicherry Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ↑ Forty Years Ago: January 5, 1979. Indian express(5 January 2019). Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ↑ How Dravidian parties have lost their hold over Puducherry. The Federal(31 March 2021).
External links
- Record of all Puducherry Assembly elections. eci.gov.in. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 19 May 2022.