G. V. Markandayan

Markandayan was first elected as an MLA from Vilathikulam Assembly constituency in the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election representing the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He polled 72,753 votes and defeated his nearest rival, Perumalsamy. K of the Indian National Congress, by a margin of 22,597 votes.^[3][4] He was denied a ticket in the 2019 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by-elections by the AIADMK party and he lost as independent rebel candidate from the Vilathikulam constituency, finishing third with about 28000 votes. Later, AIADMK leadership expelled him from the party. Later, he joined the DMK and was elected from the same constituency in the 2021 Assembly election where he defeated P. Chinnappan of the AIADMK by a margin of 38,549 votes.^[1]

In February 2016, during a debate on the interim budget he made some remarks about DMK and M K Stalin's son-in- law Sabareesan, which infuriated the DMK members that led to an argument with the speaker, P Dhanapal, who later ordered that some members who squatted to be forcefully removed.^[5]