Kulithalai comes under the Kulithalai assembly constituency and it elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. M. Karunanidhi, five time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won his first legislative elections from Kulithatlai constituency in 1962. From the 1977 elections, All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the assembly seat four times (in 1984, 1991, 2001 and 2011 elections), twice by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK, 1996 and 2006 elections) and once each by Communist Party of India (CPI, 1980 elections), and Indian National Congress (INC, 1977). The current MLA of the constituency is A.Pappasundaram from AIADMK.