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Vaithilingam begins his second tenure

PUDUCHERRY: V. Vaithilingam, who took over as the 17th Chief Minister of the Union Territory, joined public life in his late 20s to assist his father V. Venkatasubba Reddiar, a former Chief Minister of the Union Territory. Mr. Vaithilingam will complete 24 years as member of the Assembly on March 8, 2009.

This is his second term in office as Chief Minister. Mr.Vaithilingam ventured into electoral politics at the age of 30 from his home constituency Nettapakkam in the 1980 Assembly elections. Though he lost the election to R. Subbarayacavundar (Janata Party) by a narrow margin of 125 votes, he won the next six consecutive elections from Nettapakkam by a huge margin. In the subsequent Assembly elections, he defeated R. Ramamurthy (DMK) by 4,369 votes and went on to become a Minister holding Public Works and Power portfolios in the Cabinet headed by M. O. H Farooq. His victory in the 1991 Assembly elections, defeating Subbrayacavundar, who contested as a DMK candidate, by 4,313 votes, made him Chief Minister for the first time.

The period from 1991 to 1996 with Mr. Vaithilingam as the Chief Minister was considered to be free from all political squabbles and he was credited with running a smooth government. During the fag end of his tenure as Chief Minister, Mr. Vaithilingam launched a programme, ‘To the Villages,’ which earned him all-round appreciation and popularity. He made it a point to visit villages on weekends along with officials to listen to people’s grievances.

His achievements as Chief Minister included distribution of free pattas to 5,000 beneficiaries, implementing a scheme to exempt families belonging to lower income group from paying house tax, ‘one light’ service connection to all households and introduction of old-age pension to those aged above 60 years.

Congress sources point out that his biggest advantage is his friendship with persons cutting across party lines, and his ability to strike a rapport with all legislators.

Mr. Vaithilingam, who hails from a family of freedom fighters and political leaders, had to face unsavoury moments, too, in his political life. In the Assembly elections of 1996 and 2006, he had to face his younger brother V. Muthunarayanan from the same constituency. While his father served as Chief Minister during different periods, his paternal grandfather Vaithilinga Reddiar was the Mayor of Nettapakkam Commune during the French rule.

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