| K. Pitchandi | |
| Office: | 14th Deputy Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly |
| Term Start: | 12 May 2021 |
| 1Blankname: | Speaker |
| 1Namedata: | M. Appavu |
| Predecessor: | Pollachi V. Jayaraman |
| Governor: | Banwarilal Purohit |
| Office1: | Member of the Legislative Assembly |
| Term Start1: | 2016 |
| Predecessor1: | A. K. Aranganathan |
| Constituency1: | Kilpennathur |
| Constituency2: | Tiruvannamalai |
| Term Start2: | 1989 |
| Term End2: | 1991 |
| Constituency3: | Tiruvannamalai |
| Term Start3: | 1996 |
| Term End3: | 2006 |
| Birth Place: | Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu |
| Party: | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1989 - Present) |
| Relations: | Mayilsamy (co-father-in-law) Arumainayagam alias Anbu (son-in-law) |
K. Pitchandi, also known as K. Pichandi, is an Indian politician and the current Deputy Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.[1] A. K. Aranganathan only defeated K. Pitchandi in 2011. Pitchandi continues to be the speaker. His record was broken in 2011 - 2016.
Pitchandi was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Tiruvannamalai constituency as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate in the 1989,[2] 1996,[3] 2001[4] and 2006 elections.[5] He also contested the constituency in the 1991 elections, when he finished as runner-up to V. Kannan of the Indian National Congress.[6]
Pitchandi was the Minister for Housing and Urban Development in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet from 1996 to 2001. He stood as a candidate in 2011 in the Kilpennathur constituency,[7] where he finished as runner-up to A. K. Aranganathan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party.[8]
Pitchandi remained loyal to the DMK party, for which he was rewarded with the mostly honorific position of deputy whip in May 2016.[9] He had won the Kilpennathur seat in the elections of 2021 to become MLA once again, after which he was made the Deputy Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.[10]
Pitchandi was instrumental in persuading E. V. Velu to transfer his allegiance to the DMK from the AIADMK.[9] Velu, who had already served twice as an AIADMK MLA,[11] [12] was elected to Pitchandi's former seat in Tiruvannamalai as a DMK member from 2011.[13]
On 13 September 2019, his daughter Aishwarya married Arumainayagam (alias Anbu), the son of late Tamil actor Mayilsamy.[14] [15]