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30 seats in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 319,137 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 80.41% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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[edit | edit source]
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[edit | edit source]
 | |||||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 68,030 | 27.73 | 14 |  11 | |
| Indian National Congress (Indira) | 58,680 | 23.92 | 10 | 8 | |
| Janata Party | 22,892 | 9.33 | 3 |  4 | |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 4,944 | 2.02 | 1 | 1 | |
| Others | 64,778 | 26.40 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 26,001 | 10.60 | 2 | 1 | |
| Total | 245,325 | 100.00 | 30 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 245,325 | 95.60 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 11,278 | 4.40 | |||
| Total votes | 256,603 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 319,137 | 80.41 | |||
| Source: ECI[7] | |||||
Elected members[edit | edit source]
| Assembly Constituency | Turnout | Winner | Runner Up | Margin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #k | Names | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |||
| 1 | Muthialpet | 78.09% | G. Palani Raja | DMK | 7,396 | 63.71% | A. V. Vaithilingam | AIADMK | 3,456 | 29.77% | 3,940 | ||
| 2 | Cassicade | 72.91% | V. Kathirvelu | INC(I) | 3,948 | 51.63% | Ansari P. Duraisamy | JP | 1,716 | 22.44% | 2,232 | ||
| 3 | Raj Bhavan | 65.46% | L. Joseph Mariadass | DMK | 1,880 | 45.92% | V. Subbiah | CPI | 1,082 | 26.43% | 798 | ||
| 4 | Bussy | 73.12% | C. M. Achraff | INC(I) | 2,898 | 69.36% | R. P. Joseph | AIADMK | 716 | 17.14% | 2,182 | ||
| 5 | Oupalam | 77.39% | Sitha Vedanayagam | DMK | 5,419 | 70.06% | C. N. Parthasarathy | AIADMK | 2,177 | 28.14% | 3,242 | ||
| 6 | Orleampeth | 75.61% | Na. Manimaran Alias Na. Marimuthu | DMK | 5,721 | 59.70% | P. K. Loganathan | AIADMK | 2,820 | 29.43% | 2,901 | ||
| 7 | Nellithope | 77.64% | P. Ramalingam | DMK | 4,019 | 53.80% | B. Manimaran | AIADMK | 2,110 | 28.25% | 1,909 | ||
| 8 | Mudaliarpet | 82.30% | V. Kothandaraman Sababathy | INC(I) | 5,258 | 48.39% | M. Manjini | CPI | 2,950 | 27.15% | 2,308 | ||
| 9 | Ariankuppam | 81.94% | P. Subbarayan | DMK | 5,900 | 57.57% | M. Pandurangan | AIADMK | 3,628 | 35.40% | 2,272 | ||
| 10 | Embalam | 83.58% | G. Murugesan | INC(I) | 5,033 | 68.30% | N. Ramajayam | AIADMK | 1,773 | 24.06% | 3,260 | ||
| 11 | Nettapakkam | 89.86% | R. Subbaraya Gounder | JP | 4,201 | 49.89% | V. Vaithilingam | INC(I) | 4,076 | 48.40% | 125 | ||
| 12 | Kuruvinatham | 88.52% | M. A. Shanmugam | DMK | 3,738 | 42.59% | K. R. Subramaniya Padayachi | JP | 2,725 | 31.05% | 1,013 | ||
| 13 | Bahour | 84.08% | P. Uthiravelu | JP | 4,154 | 51.40% | A. Ramamurthy | CPI | 2,562 | 31.70% | 1,592 | ||
| 14 | Thirubuvanai | 79.81% | P. Cattavarayane | INC(I) | 6,001 | 72.08% | D. Annamalai | AIADMK | 2,269 | 27.26% | 3,732 | ||
| 15 | Mannadipet | 89.22% | D. Ramachandran | DMK | 5,598 | 61.09% | S. Manickavachakan | AIADMK | 3,566 | 38.91% | 2,032 | ||
| 16 | Ossudu | 80.70% | P. Murthy | DMK | 5,122 | 66.48% | K. Dhakshinamurthy | AIADMK | 2,374 | 30.82% | 2,748 | ||
| 17 | Villianur | 82.20% | M. Venugopal | DMK | 3,810 | 44.23% | S. Sellappan Alias Meenakshisundaram | AIADMK | 3,065 | 35.58% | 745 | ||
| 18 | Ozhukarai | 84.39% | G. Perumal Raja | DMK | 5,493 | 65.98% | R. Somasimdara | AIADMK | 2,685 | 32.25% | 2,808 | ||
| 19 | Thattanchavady | 78.86% | V. Pethaperumal | JP | 4,824 | 48.85% | N. Kandeban | CPI | 2,554 | 25.86% | 2,270 | ||
| 20 | Reddiarpalayam | 76.53% | Renuka Appadurai | INC(I) | 5,409 | 52.49% | N. Gurusamy | CPI | 2,516 | 24.42% | 2,893 | ||
| 21 | Lawspet | 82.88% | M. O. H. Farook | INC(I) | 8,980 | 78.68% | G. Gopalakrishnan | AIADMK | 2,126 | 18.63% | 6,854 | ||
| 22 | Cotchery | 84.62% | G. Panjavarnam | DMK | 4,133 | 49.93% | T. Subbaiya | Independent | 2,504 | 30.25% | 1,629 | ||
| 23 | Karaikal North | 68.80% | V. M. Salih Maricar | Independent | 4,778 | 55.25% | M. Jembulingam | JP | 2,194 | 25.37% | 2,584 | ||
| 24 | Karaikal South | 78.17% | S. Savarirajan | INC(I) | 4,867 | 64.40% | S. Ramassamy | AIADMK | 2,218 | 29.35% | 2,649 | ||
| 25 | Neravy T R Pattinam | 83.00% | V. M. C. Sivakumar | DMK | 5,315 | 57.35% | V. M. C. Varada Pillai | AIADMK | 3,953 | 42.65% | 1,362 | ||
| 26 | Thirunallar | 84.00% | N. V. Ramalingam | DMK | 3,573 | 44.44% | A. Soundararengam | AIADMK | 3,400 | 42.29% | 173 | ||
| 27 | Nedungadu | 83.45% | M. Chandirakasu | INC(I) | 4,981 | 65.23% | P. Natesan | AIADMK | 1,751 | 22.93% | 3,230 | ||
| 28 | Mahe | 77.20% | K. V. Raghavan | CPI (M) | 2,638 | 48.17% | C. V. Sulaiman Hajee | Independent | 2,174 | 39.70% | 464 | ||
| 29 | Palloor | 80.07% | N. K. Sachindranath | INC(I) | 2,567 | 45.89% | A. V. Sreedharan | Indian National Congress | 2,467 | 44.10% | 100 | ||
| 30 | Yanam | 87.41% | Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu | Independent | 2,433 | 48.43% | Abdul Khader Jeelani Mohammed | INC(I) | 2,165 | 43.09% | 268 | ||
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "Explained: Puducherry, the territory of coalitions and President's Rule". The Week (Indian magazine). 26 March 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
5th election: 1980 .. The DMK was the single-largest party ... The Congress won 10 seats ... (and) formed a coalition that continued in power for three years, with M.D.R. Ramachandran of DMK as chief minister.
- ↑ "Union Territory of Pondicherry Assembly - General Elections - 1980" (PDF). Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ↑ Debjani Dutta (28 March 2021). "Big trouble in little Puducherry". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
MDR Ramachandran govt of the DMK assumed charge on January 16, 1980, fell on June 24, 1983
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Statistical Report on General Election, 1980 to the Legislative Assembly of Pondicherry". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
External links[edit | edit source]
- "Record of all Puducherry Assembly elections". eci.gov.in. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 19 May 2022.