All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

• The party remains firm on its support for the "two language policy", in opposition to centre demands to have Hindi as the sole lingua franca language, where Tamil and English are the two main languages of Tamil Nadu.[11]
• The party provides Rs. 1 lakh for temples of local deities in 2016.[12]

In the spring of 2019, the party lauded the economic policies of the Modi government (BJP), stating that the centre had ushered in economic stability and made the country a "decisive player" in regional economics, and voiced support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which had been opposed by their rival the DMK. It also congratulated the BJP for not borrowing money from the World Bank and complained that national rival Congress left the country in debt. The party also voiced support for the lack of corruption scandals during the government, unlike the Congress which had to deal with the 2G spectrum scandal and the Commonwealth Games scandal.[13]

Amma Anbu Maaligai in Royapettah

• The party has sought the votes of agricultural workers by providing farm loans and subsidies. It also provides several welfare policies such as free equipment and allowances.[12]
• The party favours large-scale infrastructure projects such as water pipelines and freeways.[14]
• The party has supported the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).[13]

• The party has implemented several policies to help support women in the state, including all-women police stations, free equipment to help housewives, and loans/subsidies for women to support themselves through education or healthcare.[12]
• The party appointed a transgender woman as their national spokesperson who has spoken out against the lack of support for transgender people and the wider LGBT community on a national level.[15]

• The AIADMK was one of two parties, along with BJP, not to voice opposition against a ban of cattle slaughter through the national Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. It has however sought an exemption in the Act over traditional bull fighting;[16] the party supports popular opinion in Tamil Nadu that traditional bull fighting, known as Jallikattu, should not be banned by the centre due to a ruling by the APEX court against animal cruelty.[17] During the controversy, both major parties of the state called for animal-rights organisation PETA to be banned.[18] The leader of the party is a vegetarian.[19]
• The AIADMK has been accused of "tolerating" anti-nuclear protests in relation to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.[20]
• AIADMK opposes the building of the Cauvery Dam which could reduce water flows into Tamil Nadu and negatively affect quality-of-live for residents and agriculture.[21]

• The AIADMK has sought the support of all castes and religions.[22]

Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr. M. G. Ramachandran

The party was founded in 1972 as Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) by M. G. Ramachandran, a veteran Tamil film star and popular politician. It was set up as a breakaway faction of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by M. Karunanidhi, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, owing to differences between the two.[23] Later, MGR prefixed the All India (AI) tag to the party's name.[24] Since its inception, the relationship between the AIADMK and DMK has been marked by mutual contempt. MGR used his fan network to build the party cadre with claims his party recruited more than a million members in the first two months. C. N. Annadurai's ideologue and movie mogul R. M. Veerppan was the key architect in unifying the MGR fan clubs and further consolidating the party structure in the 70s. Other key leaders such as Nanjil K. Manoharan and S. D. Somasundaram played major roles in consolidation.[25] The party's first victories were the Dindigul parliamentary by-election in 1973 and the Coimbatore assembly by-election a year later.[25] On 2 April 1973, AIADMK emerged as the third largest political party in Tamil Nadu, represented by 11 MLAs in the assembly. By 31 January 1976, AIADMK emerged as the second largest political party in Tamil Nadu with 16 MLAs in the assembly. AIADMK grew close to the Congress Party by supporting the National Emergency between 1975 and 1977.

The DMK-led government was dismissed by a Central promulgation on corruption charges in 1976. The AIADMK swept to power in 1977, defeating the DMK in the assembly elections. MGR was sworn in as the 7th Chief Minister of the state on 30 June 1977. MGR remained in power until his death on 24 December 1987, winning consecutive assembly elections held in 1977, 1980 and 1984.[23] In 1979, AIADMK became the first Dravidian and regional party to be part of the Union Cabinet, when two AIADMK MP's, Sathyavani Muthu and Aravinda Bala Pajanor, joined the short-lived Charan Singh Ministry which followed the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party government (1977–1979).[24]

Relations between the Congress and the AIADMK slowly became strained. In the mid-term parliamentary elections of January 1980, the Congress aligned with the DMK and the alliance won 37 out of the 39 state parliamentary seats. The AIADMK won just two seats.[26] After returning to power, the new prime minister, Indira Gandhi, dismissed a number of state governments belonging to the opposition parties, including the AIADMK government.

Elections to the state assembly were held in late May 1980 with the opposition DMK continuing the electoral alliance with the Congress. In a massive reversal of fortunes following the Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK won a comfortable majority in the state assembly with 129 of 234 seat. MGR was sworn in as chief minister for the second time on 9 June 1980.[26]

In 1984, even with MGR's failing health and hospitalization, the party won the assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. Many political historians consider MGR's persona and charisma at this point of time as "infallible", and a logical continuation of his on-screen "good lad" image, strengthened by his "mythical status" in the minds of the masses.[27] MGR continued to enjoy popular support in his third tenure until his death on 24 December 1987.[27]

MGR's wife Janaki Ramachandran

Following MGR's death, his wife, actress-turned-politician Janaki Ramachandran, rose to the party's leadership under support of R. M. Veerappan and 98 MLAs. She led the government for 24 days as the state's 1st woman chief minister from 7 January 1988 until the state assembly was suspended on 30 January 1988 and President's rule imposed. The party began to crumble due to infighting and broke into two factions, one under Janaki Ramachandran and the other under J. Jayalalithaa, an associate of MGR and another film actress-turned-politician who had starred with MGR. The 1989 assembly election saw the DMK regain power after 12 years in the opposition with M. Karunanidhi returning as the Chief Minister for the third time. AIADMK, due to its split, suffered heavily in the elections, with the Janaki and Jayalalithaa factions winning only 2 and 27 seats, respectively.[27] Following AIADMK's rout in the elections, the factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki merged under the former's leadership. The DMK government was dismissed in 1991 by the Central Government led by Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, an ally of the AIADMK at that time, on charges that the constitutional machinery in the state had broken down.

The AIADMK allied with the Congress and swept to power in the 1991 assembly election under the leadership of J. Jayalalithaa who became the second female chief minister and the 10th chief minister of the state. Political observers have ascribed the landslide victory to the anti-incumbent wave arising out of the assassination of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi[27] by suspected Tamil separatists fighting for a homeland in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The ensuing government, was accused of large-scale corruption, but Jayalalithaa held on to power for a full term of five years. In the 1996 assembly election, AIADMK continued its alliance with the Congress but suffered a massive rout, winning only four out of the 234 assembly seats, with even Jayalalithaa losing from Bargur.[28][29]

Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr. J. Jayalalithaa

The AIADMK formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vaiko's Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), another breakaway faction of the DMK, during the parliamentary elections in 1998.[28] AIADMK shared power with the BJP in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee headed government between 1998 and 1999,[24] but withdrew support in early 1999, leading to the fall of the BJP government. Following this, the AIADMK once again allied with the Congress.

In the 2001 assembly election, the AIADMK-led alliance, consisting of the Congress, the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), the Left Front and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), regained power, winning 197 seats, with AIADMK winning 132.[30] Due to the proceedings in a disproportionate assets case which occurred in her previous tenure, Jayalalithaa was prevented from holding office. O. Panneerselvam, a close confidant of Jayalalithaa was appointed as the Chief Minister for the second time on 21 September 2001. Once the Supreme Court overturned Jayalalithaa's conviction and sentence in the case, O Panneerselvam resigned on 2 March 2002, and Jayalalithaa was again sworn in as Chief Minister for the third time.[30]

Unlike her first term, her second term was not marred by corruption scandals. She took many popular decisions such as banning of lottery tickets, restricting the liquor and sand quarrying business to government agencies and banning tobacco product sales near schools and colleges. She encouraged women to join the state police force by setting up all women-police stations and commissioning 150 women into the elite level police commandos in 2003, a first in India. The women had the same training as men and included handling weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseriding, and adventure sports.[31] She sent a special task force to the Sathyamangalam forests in October 2004 to hunt down notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. The operation was successful as Veerappan was finally killed by the task force on 18 October 2004.

However, despite the popular measures taken by the government, in the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the party, in alliance with the BJP again, was humiliated, winning none of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state. The Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), a DMK-led alliance consisting of all the major opposition parties in the state, swept the election.

Later, in the 2006 assembly election, in spite of media speculations of a hung assembly, the AIADMK, contesting with only the support of MDMK and a few other smaller parties, won 61 seats compared to the DMK's 96 and was pushed out of power by the DMK-led congressional alliance of the PMK and the Left Front. The AIADMK's electoral reversals continued in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. However, the party's performance was better than its debacle in 2004, and it managed to win nine seats.

Swearing-in Ceremony of the Council of Ministers headed by
Dr. J. Jayalalithaa on 16 May 2011

Following widespread corruption and allegations of nepotism against the DMK government, in the 2011 assembly election, the party, in alliance with parties like the left and actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), swept the polls, winning 202 seats, with the AIADMK winning 150. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister for the fourth time.[30]

In the Union territory of Puducherry, the AIADMK allied with N. Rangaswamy's All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) and won the 2011 assembly election, which was held in parallel with the Tamil Nadu assembly election. However, it did not join the newly elected AINRC-led government. The AIADMK's good electoral performance continued in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Contesting without allies, the AIADMK won an unprecedented 37 out of 39 seats in the state of Tamil Nadu, emerging as the third-largest party in parliament.

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was convicted in the Disproportionate assets case by a Special Court along with her associates Sasikala Natarajan, Ilavarasi and V. N. Sudhakaran, and sentenced to four-year simple imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was also fined ₹100 crores and her associates were fined ₹10 crore each. The case had political implications as it was the first case where a ruling chief minister had to step down on account of a court sentence.[32]

Due to her resignation O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as Chief Minister on 29 September 2014.[33] Jayalalithaa was denied bail by the High Court and moved the Supreme Court for bail. The Supreme Court granted bail on 17 October 2014. On 11 May 2015, the high court of Karnataka said she was acquitted from that case, and was again sworn in as Chief Minister for the fifth time.

In the 2016 assembly election contesting without allies, the AIADMK swept the polls, winning 135 out of 234 seats. On 23 May 2016, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister for the sixth time.[30]

On 22 September 2016, she was admitted to Apollo Hospital, Chennai due to fever and dehydration. After a prolonged illness, she died on 5 December 2016.

Under Jayalalithaa's regime, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam spread beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. State units are established in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. The party floated 29 candidates across the state of Kerala in the 2006 assembly election and had contested on its own.

In Karnataka, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had members in the state assembly and has influence in the Tamil-speaking areas of Bengaluru and Kolar. The party has a following in places like National Capital Territory of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in India and also in countries where Tamil people are present.

After her death on 5 December 2016, Jayalalithaa's long-time friend V. K. Sasikala was selected unanimously as the General Secretary of the party on 16 December 2016.[34][35] On February 5, 2017, she was selected as the leader of the legislative assembly as chief minister. O. Panneerselvam rebelled against V. K. Sasikala and reported that he had been compelled to resign as Chief Minister, bringing in a new twist to Tamil Nadu Politics. Due to a conviction in Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, V.K.Sasikala was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in the Bengaluru Jail. Before that, she appointed Edappadi K. Palaniswami as legislative party leader (Chief Minister).

She also appointed her nephew and former Treasury of the party Mr. T. T. V. Dhinakaran as the deputy general secretary of AIADMK party. With the support of 123 MLAs, Edappadi K. Palaniswami became chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

On 23 March 2017, the election commission of India gave separate party symbols to the two factions; O. Panneerselvam's faction known as AIADMK (PURATCHI THALAIVI AMMA), while Edappadi K. Palaniswami's faction known as AIADMK (AMMA).

By-polls were announced at the RK Nagar constituency which was vacated due to Jayalalitha's death. But, the election commission canceled the by-polls after evidence of large-scale bribing by the ruling AIADMK (AMMA) surfaced. On 17 April 2017, Delhi police registered a case against Dhinakaran who was also the candidate for AIADMK (AMMA) for the by-poll at RK Nagar regarding an allegation of attempting to bribe the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the AIADMK's election symbol. However the Tis Hazari Special Court granted him bail on the grounds that the police failed to identify the public official allegedly bribed. T.T.V. Dhinakaran started his party work on 5 August 2017. However, the chief minister Edappadi Palaniswamy had a fallout with Dhinakaran and announced that the appointment of T.T.V. Dinakaran as deputy general secretary was invalid. So T.T.V. Dhinakaran claims that's " We are the real AIADMK and 95% of its cadres are with us ".

CM and Deputy CM of Tamil Nadu

On 21 August 2017, both EPS and OPS factions of the AIADMK merged and O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister, Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu and the convener of AIADMK. He also holds portfolios of Housing, Rural Housing, Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control, Town Planning, Urban Development, and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.[36] On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam was elected Leader of the House in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

A day after the merger of two AIADMK factions, 19 MLAs[37] owing allegiance to ousted deputy general secretary T. T. V. Dhinakaran on 22 April 2017 submitted letters to Governor, expressing lack of confidence in Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and withdrawing support from the government.[37] 18 out of those 19 MLAs were disqualified from Office by the Speaker of Legislature upon recommendation from AIADMK Chief Whip. After a prolonged legal battle, the Speaker's orders were upheld by the High Court of Chennai and by-elections were alogside the Parliament general elections. The election commission of India on 23 November 2017 granted the two leaves symbol to the EPS and OPS camp.

Legal Fight for the party by V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran (24 November 2017 – Present)

After that V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran had appealed to the Delhi High Court and they rejected their appeal and said that EPS and OPS camp are original AIADMK.

After that T. T. V. Dhinakaran had also appealed to the Supreme Court of India on March 15, the bench of Chief Justice of India has also rejected his appeal against the judgement made by Delhi High Court in favour of EPS and OPS camp.