P. Shanmugam

P. Shanmugam ( Panchanatham Shanmugam; Tamil : பி. சண்முகம் ; born March 25, 1927 in Nedungadu , Karaikal district ; † February 2, 2013 in Karaikal ) was an Indian politician ( Congress Party ); from 2000 to 2001 he was Chief Minister (Head of Government) of the Union Territory of Puducherry (Pondicherry).

Fr Shanmugam was born on March 25, 1927 in the village of Nedungadu in the Karaikal district, then part of French India and now one of four districts of the Puducherry Union Territory. His political career in the Congress Party began after the French possessions annexed India in 1954. In 1955, 1959 and again in 1969 Father Shanmugam was elected to the Puducherry Parliament. From 1969 to 1973 he held the office of opposition leader for the Congress Party during the reign of the DMK party . From 1980 to 1991 Fr. Shanmugam represented the constituency of Puducherry in the Lok Sabha (the all-India lower house). After the failure of the DMK-led government under RV Janakiraman , P. Shanmugam was elected Chief Minister of Puducherry on March 22, 2000 by a coalition of the Congress Party, TMC , AIADMK and CPI . As a result of the general election in May 2001, coalition government continued and Shanmugam was confirmed in office. However, since he himself did not have a seat in parliament (which is a prerequisite for a government post) and no MP was willing to resign in his favor, P. Shanmugam had to hand over the office of Chief Minister to N. Rangasamy in October 2001 .

In 2008, Fr. Shanmugam withdrew from politics for health reasons. P. Shanmugam died on February 2, 2013 at the age of 85 in Karaikal from the effects of a head injury that he sustained in a fall in his bathroom that morning.

See also

• List of Chief Ministers of Pondicherry

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Hindu, October 25, 2001: "Pondy Ministry in two instalments".
2. ↑ The Hindu, February 3, 2012: "Former Puducherry CM Shanmugam passes away".

Web links

• Profile on the side of the Lok Sabha