P. H. Pandian

P. H. Pandian
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
10 October 1999 – 22 May 2004
Preceded byM. R. Kadambur Janarthanan
Succeeded byR. Dhanuskodi Athithan
ConstituencyTirunelveli
6th Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
27 February 1985 – 5 February 1989
DeputyV. P. Balasubramanian
Preceded byK. Rajaram
Succeeded byM. Tamilkudimagan
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office
30 June 1977 – 26 January 1989
Preceded byD. S. A. Sivaprakasam
Succeeded byR. Puthunainar Adithan
ConstituencyCheranmadevi
Personal details
Born27 February 1945
Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, British Raj
Died4 January 2020(2020-01-04) (aged 74)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
ChildrenPaul Manoj Pandian (Son)

Paul Hector Pandian (27 February 1945 – 4 January 2020) was an Indian politician of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu from Tirunelveli district. He served as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1985 to 1989.[1][2] He served as Deputy Speaker and Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 21 June 1980 to 5 February 1989. He was one of the only two candidates elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislature from the V. N. Janaki Ramachandran Faction of AIADMK in 1989, when he won the Cheranmahadevi seat. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli Parliamentary constituency in 1999. He was the organising secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which was led by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

His son, Paul Manoj Pandian, was also elected an MLA for AIADMK in 2001 from Cheranmahadevi, the same constituency represented by P. H. Pandian in 1989.

Pandian was one of the two senior AIADMK leaders who had not supported the ascension of Sasikala within the party after the death of Jayalalithaa in December 2016. Pandian further spoke out against Sasikala's chief ministerial candidacy in February 2017, asserting that she was unfit for the position. He also raised suspicions over Jayalalithaa's death claiming that she had died under unnatural circumstances.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: Details of terms of successive Legislative Assemblies constituted under the Constitution of India". Government of Tamil Nadu.
  2. ^ "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: Details of terms of successive Legislative Assemblies constituted under the Constitution of India". Government of India. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  3. ^ Julie Mariappan (7 February 2017). "AIADMK leader PH Pandian raises suspicions over Jayalalithaa's death". The Times of India.
  4. ^ "PH Pandian says, Sasikala unfit to be CM; push from Poes garden killed Jayalalithaa". The Financial Express. 7 February 2017.