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. 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.
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.
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.
Results
Elected members Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituencyAssembly ConstituencyTurnout WinnerRunner UpMargin #k Names% Candidate Party Votes% Candidate Party Votes% 1 Muthialpet 78.09% G. Palani Raja 7,396 63.71% A. V. Vaithilingam 3,456 29.77% 3,940 2 Cassicade 72.91% V. Kathirvelu 3,948 51.63% Ansari P. Duraisamy 1,716 22.44% 2,232 3 Raj Bhavan 65.46% L. Joseph Mariadass 1,880 45.92% V. Subbiah 1,082 26.43% 798 4 Bussy 73.12% C. M. Achraff 2,898 69.36% R. P. Joseph 716 17.14% 2,182 5 Oupalam 77.39% Sitha Vedanayagam 5,419 70.06% C. N. Parthasarathy 2,177 28.14% 3,242 6 Orleampeth 75.61% Na. Manimaran Alias Na. Marimuthu 5,721 59.70% P. K. Loganathan 2,820 29.43% 2,901 7 Nellithope 77.64% P. Ramalingam 4,019 53.80% B. Manimaran 2,110 28.25% 1,909 8 Mudaliarpet 82.30% V. Kothandaraman Sababathy 5,258 48.39% M. Manjini 2,950 27.15% 2,308 9 Ariankuppam 81.94% P. Subbarayan 5,900 57.57% M. Pandurangan 3,628 35.40% 2,272 10 Embalam 83.58% G. Murugesan 5,033 68.30% N. Ramajayam 1,773 24.06% 3,260 11 Nettapakkam 89.86% R. Subbaraya Gounder 4,201 49.89% V. Vaithilingam 4,076 48.40% 125 12 Kuruvinatham 88.52% M. A. Shanmugam 3,738 42.59% K. R. Subramaniya Padayachi 2,725 31.05% 1,013 13 Bahour 84.08% P. Uthiravelu 4,154 51.40% A. Ramamurthy 2,562 31.70% 1,592 14 Thirubuvanai 79.81% P. Cattavarayane 6,001 72.08% D. Annamalai 2,269 27.26% 3,732 15 Mannadipet 89.22% D. Ramachandran 5,598 61.09% S. Manickavachakan 3,566 38.91% 2,032 16 Ossudu 80.70% P. Murthy 5,122 66.48% K. Dhakshinamurthy 2,374 30.82% 2,748 17 Villianur 82.20% M. Venugopal 3,810 44.23% S. Sellappan Alias Meenakshisundaram 3,065 35.58% 745 18 Ozhukarai 84.39% G. Perumal Raja 5,493 65.98% R. Somasimdara 2,685 32.25% 2,808 19 Thattanchavady 78.86% V. Pethaperumal 4,824 48.85% N. Kandeban 2,554 25.86% 2,270 20 Reddiarpalayam 76.53% Renuka Appadurai 5,409 52.49% N. Gurusamy 2,516 24.42% 2,893 21 Lawspet 82.88% M. O. H. Farook 8,980 78.68% G. Gopalakrishnan 2,126 18.63% 6,854 22 Cotchery 84.62% G. Panjavarnam 4,133 49.93% T. Subbaiya 2,504 30.25% 1,629 23 Karaikal North 68.80% V. M. Salih Maricar 4,778 55.25% M. Jembulingam 2,194 25.37% 2,584 24 Karaikal South 78.17% S. Savarirajan 4,867 64.40% S. Ramassamy 2,218 29.35% 2,649 25 Neravy T R Pattinam 83.00% V. M. C. Sivakumar 5,315 57.35% V. M. C. Varada Pillai 3,953 42.65% 1,362 26 Thirunallar 84.00% N. V. Ramalingam 3,573 44.44% A. Soundararengam 3,400 42.29% 173 27 Nedungadu 83.45% M. Chandirakasu 4,981 65.23% P. Natesan 1,751 22.93% 3,230 28 Mahe 77.20% K. V. Raghavan 2,638 48.17% C. V. Sulaiman Hajee 2,174 39.70% 464 29 Palloor 80.07% N. K. Sachindranath 2,567 45.89% A. V. Sreedharan 2,467 44.10% 100 30 Yanam 87.41% Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu 2,433 48.43% Abdul Khader Jeelani Mohammed 2,165 43.09% 268
See also List of constituencies of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly 1980 elections in India
References
External links