Elections in Tamil Nadu

Elections in Tamil Nadu are conducted every five years to elect the State assembly and its share of members to the Lok Sabha. There are 234 assembly constituencies and 39 Lok Sabha constituencies. The state has conducted 15 assembly elections and 16 Lok Sabha elections since independence.

Former Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari, with former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi (right) and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu C. N. Annadurai (left) in January 1968

Assembly constituencies

Tamil Nadu has 234 assembly constituencies. The Chief Minister of the state is elected by legislators of the political party or coalition commanding an assembly majority, and serves a five-year term with a provision of re-election. The Governor is the head of state, but his or her role is largely ceremonial.

The Lok Sabha is the directly elected lower house of the Parliament of India. As of 2014 there have been sixteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Pre-Independence elections

Madras Presidency Legislative Council election
Year Election Winning Party/Coalition Leader Elected Chief Minister (Party) Opposition Opposition Leader
1920-1921 First Presidency Council Justice Party (India) P. Theagaroya Chetty A. Subbarayalu Reddiar (Justice Party) Independents n/a
1923 Second Presidency Council Justice Party (India) P. Theagaroya Chetty Panagal Raja(Justice Party) Anti-ministerial
1926 Third Presidency Council Swaraj Party S. Srinivasa Iyengar P. Subbarayan (Nonpartisan) Justice Party (India) Raja of Bobbili
1930 Fourth Presidency Council Justice Party (India) P. Munuswamy Naidu P. Munuswamy Naidu (Justice Party) Independent Nationalist Party P. Subbarayan
1934 Fifth Presidency Council Swaraj Party Sathyamurthy Raja of Bobbili (Justice Party) Justice Party (India) Raja of Bobbili

Madras Presidency Legislative Assembly election
Year Election Winning Party/Coalition Chief Minister Opposition Opposition Leader
1937 First Assembly Indian National Congress* C. Rajagopalachari Justice Party (India) Raja of Bobbili
1946 Second Assembly Indian National Congress 1) T. Prakasam
2) Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar
3) P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja		 All-India Muslim League Muhammad Ismail

Post-Independence elections

Madras State Legislative Assembly election

The Madras state was created in 1950 when India became a republic. In 1968, the name of Madras state was changed to Tamil Nadu.

Year Election Winning Party/Coalition Chief Minister
1952 First Assembly Indian National Congress* 1) C. Rajagopalachari
2) K. Kamaraj
1957 Second Assembly Indian National Congress K. Kamaraj(2)
1962 Third Assembly Indian National Congress 1)K. Kamaraj(3)
2) M. Bakthavatsalam
1967 Fourth Assembly Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1) C.N. Annadurai
2) M. Karunanidhi

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
Stacked bar graph with number of seats won in the legislative assembly elections from 1957-2011
Year Election Winning Party/Coalition Chief Minister
1971 Fifth Assembly Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M. Karunanidhi (2)
1977 Sixth Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M.G. Ramachandran
1980 Seventh Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M.G. Ramachandran (2)
1984 Eighth Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M.G. Ramachandran (3)
Janaki Ramachandran
1989 Ninth Assembly Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M. Karunanidhi (3)
1991 Tenth Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
ADMK-164; ADMK+ 225/234
DMK-2, DMK+ 7/234)		 J. Jayalalithaa
1996 Eleventh Assembly Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK + Tamil Manila + CPI = 221/234;
ADMK - 4 seats)		 M. Karunanidhi (4)
2001 Twelfth Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
ADMK+ 196/234
ADMK-132, TMC-23, PMK-20, INC-7
DMK+ 37; DMK-31		 J. Jayalalithaa (2)
O. Panneerselvam
J. Jayalalithaa (3)
2006 Thirteenth Assembly Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam†
DMK+ 163/234, DMK-96, INC-34, PMK-18
AIADMK+ 69/234, ADMK-61/69		 M. Karunanidhi (5)
2011 Fourteenth Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
AIADMK+ 203/234, ADMK-150/203, DMDK-29
CPI/M 10+9
DMK+ 31 (DMK-23, INC-5, PMK-3)		 J. Jayalalithaa (4)

O. Panneerselvam (2)
J. Jayalalithaa (5)

2016 Fifteenth Assembly Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam + 134
DMK+ 98
PWF 0
PMK 0		 J. Jayalalithaa (6)
O. Panneerselvam (3)
Edappadi K. Palaniswami
2021 Sixteenth Assembly TBA TBA

END

  • Note: In 1952, no party could form a majority, which resulted in the first government in the state that was formed without a majority.

†: Indicates a coalition government, since no single party could gain a majority of seats.

By-elections
Election Year Winning Party/Coalition Seats Won - Seats Lost
1997–98 DMK 3-0
1999–2000 DMK-MDMK 3-2
2002–03 AIADMK 5-0
2004–05 AIADMK 2-1
2006–07 DMK-INC 2-0
2009–10 DMK-INC 9-0
2012-2013 AIADMK[1] 1-0
2015-2016 AIADMK[2] 1-0
2016-2017 AIADMK[3] 3-0
2017-2018 T. T. V. Dhinakaran - Independent[4] 1-0
2019-2020 DMK[5] 13-9

Election Maps (1977-2016)
This article is part of a series on
Government and Politics of Tamil Nadu
State of Tamil Nadu
தமிழ்நாடு மாநிலம்
  • 1977: AIADMK wins its debut election in a four-cornered contest and MGR is elected as CM for the first time.
  • 1980: AIADMK wins again and MGR is elected as CM for the second time.
  • 1984: AIADMK wins for the third straight time and MGR is elected as CM for the third time.
  • 1989: DMK wins for the third time in a four-cornered contest and Karunanidhi is elected CM for the third time.
  • 1991: AIADMK wins in a landslide and Jayalalithaa is elected CM for the first time.
  • 1996: DMK wins in a landslide and Karunanidhi is elected CM for the fourth time.
  • 2001: AIADMK wins with a grand alliance and Jayalalithaa is elected CM for the second time.
  • 2006: DMK wins a majority government by alliance with coalition parties and Karunanidhi is elected CM for the fifth time.
  • 2011: AIADMK wins and Jayalalithaa is elected CM for the third time.
  • 2016: AIADMK wins and Jayalalithaa is elected CM for the Fourth time.

Lok Sabha elections
Stacked bar graph with number of seats won in the Lok Sabha elections from 1957-2009

17 Lok Sabha elections have been contested in India since independence starting 1951. The elections held in Tamil Nadu are listed below.

Year Lok Sabha Election Winning Party/Coalition Total Seats Seats won
1951 First Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1957 Second Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1962 Third Lok Sabha Indian National Congress
1967 Fourth Lok Sabha United Front (DMK/SWA/CPM/ML)*
1971 Fifth Lok Sabha Congress (Indira) alliance (DMK/INC/CPI/FBL/ML)
1977 Sixth Lok Sabha Congress (Indira) alliance (ADMK/INC/CPI)* 39 34
1980 Seventh Lok Sabha Congress (Indira) alliance (DMK/INC/ML) - 37/39, AIADMK - 2 seats 39 37
1984 Eighth Lok Sabha Congress alliance (ADMK/INC) 39 37
1989 Ninth Lok Sabha Congress alliance (ADMK/INC) 39 38
1991 Tenth Lok Sabha Congress alliance (ADMK/INC) 39 39
1996 Eleventh Lok Sabha United Front (DMK/TMC/CPI) 39 39
1998 Twelfth Lok Sabha National Democratic Alliance (ADMK/BJP/PMK/MDMK/JP/TRC) - 30/39, DMK+TMC= 8-9 seats 39 30
1999 Thirteenth Lok Sabha National Democratic Alliance (DMK/BJP/PMK/MDMK/MADMK) - 26/39 seats 39 26
2004 Fourteenth Lok Sabha United Progressive Alliance (DMK/INC/PMK/MDMK/CPI/CPM) - 39/39 39 39
2009 Fifteenth Lok Sabha United Progressive Alliance (DMK/INC/VCK) 27 out of 39; ADMK - 10-12 seats 39 27
2014 Sixteenth Lok Sabha All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (37 out of 39) 39 37
2019 Seventeenth Lok Sabha United Progressive Alliance (DMK 23/INC 8 seats/VCK/MDMK/CPI/CPM/IUML/IJK/KMDK) - 37/38, ADMK - 1 seat 38 37
  • Note: In 1967, DMK and its 25 newly elected MPs supported the Congress, under Indira Gandhi after the election.
  • Note: Even though ADMK supported and campaigned with Congress for the 1977 election, after the loss nationally, ADMK and its newly elected 17 MPs supported Morarji Desai and the Janata Party and its alliance, giving them 20 seats (ADMK, NCO) while the other 17 seats (INC, CPI) and 2 seats (DMK) were in the opposition with Indira Gandhi.

Election Maps (1977-2014)
  • 1977: INC & AIADMK wins in a landslide, by grabbing 34 out of 39 seats in the state. INC loses the election nationally to the JP alliance. After the loss, AIADMK supported the JP alliance and AIADMK was part of the JP government under Morarji Desai.
  • 1980: INC(I) & DMK wins in a landslide, by grabbing 37 out of 39 seats in the state. INC(I) wins the election nationally and DMK was part of the INC government under Indira Gandhi.
  • 1984: INC & AIADMK wins in a landslide, by grabbing 37 out of 39 seats in the state. INC wins the election nationally and AIADMK was part of the INC government under Rajiv Gandhi.
  • 1989: INC & AIADMK wins in a landslide, by grabbing 38 out of 39 seats in the state. INC loses the election nationally to the NF alliance, which includes the DMK who was part of the JD government under V.P. Singh.
  • 1991: INC & AIADMK swept the state winning all 39 seats. INC wins the election nationally and AIADMK was part of the INC government under P. V. Narasimha Rao.
  • 1996: Newly formed alliance UF, which includes DMK & TMC(M) swept the state winning all 39 seats. UF forms the government, with outside support from INC, nationally after BJP government failed to last in a few days and DMK-TMC(M)-CPI was part of the JD government under H. D. Deve Gowda.
  • 1998: Newly formed alliance NDA, which includes BJP & AIADMK wins 30 out of 39 seats in the state. NDA wins the election nationally and AIADMK-PMK-MDMK-JP-TRC was part of the BJP government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
  • 1999: New elections were called after AIADMK quits the NDA. NDA, which now includes DMK wins 26 out of 39 seats in the state. NDA wins the election nationally for the second straight-time and DMK-PMK-MDMK-MADMK was part of the BJP government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
  • 2004: Newly formed alliance DPA, which includes INC alliance (DMK, PMK, MDMK) and Left Front swept the state winning all 39 seats. UPA wins the election nationally and DMK-PMK-MDMK was part of the INC government under Manmohan Singh, while the Left Front (CPI & CPI(M)) gave outside support.
  • 2009: A shrunken UPA alliance, which includes INC & DMK wins 27 out of 39 seats in the state. UPA wins the election nationally for the second straight time and DMK-INC-VCK was part of the INC government under Manmohan Singh
  • 2014: AIADMK forming no alliance wins in a landslide grabbing 37 out of 39 seats in a four-cornered race. NDA alliance won the remaining 2 seats. Since BJP under the leader Narendra Modi was able to get majority on its own, AIADMK and its 37 MPs were part of the opposition being the third largest party nationwide following BJP and INC.
  • 2019: The DMK-led UPA wins 37 of 38 seats, with the AIADMK-led NDA winning one seat. The election was cancelled in one seat (Vellore).

See also

References
  1. "Emphatic win for AIADMK in Sankarankoil".
  2. "Jayalalithaa wins RK Nagar by-election".
  3. "AIADMK wins all three by poll seats in Tamil Nadu".
  4. "Dhinakaran wins R.K. Nagar bypoll 2017".
  5. "Tamil Nadu bypoll results 2019: DMK adds 13 members to Assembly, AIADMK retains power with 22 wins". Firstpost. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
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