What is "sivaganga"

Sivagangai ( Tamil:சிவகங்கை) is a town and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is also the headquarters of the Sivaganga taluk. The town is located at a distance of from Madurai and from the state capital Chennai.

Sivagangai kingdom was founded by Sasivarna Periya Oodaya Thevar in 1730. The town was subsequently ruled by his successors and ultimately by Velu Nachiyar under the stewardship of Maruthu Pandiyar. They were against the British Empire, but ultimately lost to them in 1790. The Company appointed Gowry Vallaba Periya Oodaya Thevar as the Zamindar of Sivaganga in 1801, whose successors continued with chaos until India's independence in 1947. It was under Ramnad district until 1984 and subsequently a part of the newly formed Sivaganga district. The town is known for agriculture, metal working and weaving. The region around Sivaganga has considerable mineral deposits.

Sivaganga is administered by a municipality established in 1965. As of 2011, the municipality covered an area of and had a population of 40,403. Sivagangai comes under the Sivaganga assembly constituency which elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years and it is a part of the Sivaganga constituency which elects its Member of Parliament (MP) once in five years. Roadways are the major mode of transportation to the town and it also has rail connectivity. The nearest seaport, Thoothukudi Port, is located from Sivaganga, while the nearest airport, Madurai International Airport, is located from the town.

Sivaganga is a Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) constituency in Tamil Nadu. One of the 39 constituencies of Tamil Nadu, Sivaganga Lok Sabha Constituency comprises six legislative assembly segments. The Sivaganga Lok Sabha Constituency (constituency number 30) consists of 1,092,438 number of electorates in totality, of these 534,518 are males and 557,920 are females as the Election Commission of India 2009 data suggests.

It came into existence post the 2008 delimitation of parliamentary constituencies and has over 1,090,000 voters. Sivaganga, or Sivagangai is the center of administration of the Sivaganga District which covers an area of 4,189 km. It is bounded by the districts of Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Tiruchirapalli and Madurai. P.R. Senthilnathan, represents this constituency.

Sivaganga is a state assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu. Elections and winners in the constituency are listed below.