All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Abbreviation	AIADMK
Leader	O. Panneerselvam Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Lok Sabha Leader	Raveendranath Kumar
Rajya Sabha Leader	A. Navaneethakrishnan
Founder	M. G. Ramachandran
Founded	18 October 1972 (1972-10-18)
Split from	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Headquarters	226, Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Royapettah, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India–600014.
Newspaper	Arignar Anna
Ideology	Social democracy Social liberalism Populism
Political position	Centre
ECI Status	State Party
Alliance	United Progressive Alliance (1977-1980, 1991-1996, 1999) National Democratic Alliance (1998-1999, 2004 -2008, 2019-present) Third Front (2008–2019)
Seats in Lok Sabha	1 / 545 (currently 541 members + 1 speaker)
Seats in Rajya Sabha	13 / 245
Seats in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly	123 / 234
Seats in Puducherry Legislative Assembly	4 / 30
Election symbol
Website
aiadmk.website
Politics of India Political parties Elections

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) (transl. All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Party) is an Indian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu and in the union territory of Puducherry. It is currently in power in the state of Tamil Nadu. AIADMK is a Dravidian party founded by M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). From 1989 to 2016, AIADMK was led by Jayalalithaa, who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on several occasions. The party has won majorities in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly seven times, making it the most successful political outfit in the state's history. The party headquarters is located in the Royapettah neighbourhood of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in a building donated to the party in 1986 by Janaki Ramachandran, MGR's wife.

Prominent Members

• Edappadi K. Palaniswami - Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK Co-Convener
• O Paneerselvam - Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK Convener, Former Chief Minister(3 times)
• R. Vaithilingam - Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), AIADMK Deputy Convener, Former Minister
• K. P. Munusamy - AIADMK Deputy Convener, Former Minister
• E. Madhusudhanan - Presidium Chairman, Former Minister (Senior leader)
• K. A. Sengottaiyan - Minister for School education (Senior leader)
• M. Thambidurai - Propaganda Secretary, Former Union Minister, Former Lok Sabha Speaker
• A. Navaneethakrishnan - Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), Leader of party in Rajya Sabha
• C. Ponnaiyan - Founding member of AIADMK, Organisation Secretary, Former Minister (Senior Leader)
• D. Jayakumar - Minister for Fisheries, Organisation Secretary, Former assembly Speaker
• Vaigaichelvan - MLA, Deputy Propaganda Secretary, Spokesperson, Chief Whip of AIADMK
• Panruti S. Ramachandran - Organisation Secretary, Former Minister (Senior leader)
• P. Raveendranath Kumar - Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Leader of party in Lok Sabha

Puducherry AIADMK Unit:

• Subramanyan Ramaswamy - Former Chief Minister(1974,1977–78)

Served as Chief Minister briefly in two terms. Died in 2017

• P. Purushothaman - AIADMK Puducherry Unit Secretary, Former MLA
• A.Anbazhagan - MLA, Legislative Party leader (Pudhucherry)
• Om Sakthi Sekar - Former MLA

Karnataka AIADMK Unit:

• M.P.Yuvaraj - AIADMK Karnataka Unit Secretary

Appointed as State Secretary after then State Secretary Puzhalendhi joined the rebel faction of ADMK

• Late.Bhakthavachalam - Former MLA (KGF)

He won 1983,1989 and 1999 assembly elections from Kolar Gold Fields Constituency. In mid 2000's he quit AIADMK and joined JD(S). Died in 2018.

• B.Muniyappa - Former MLA (Gandhi Nagar)

He won from Gandhi Nagar Constituency in 1994 assembly elections

History

M. G. Ramachandran era (1972–1987)

M. G. Ramachandran stamp 2017

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. Later, MGR prefixed the All India (AI) tag to the party's name. 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. The party's first victories were the Dindigul parliamentary by-election in 1973 and the Coimbatore assembly by-election a year later. 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, AIADMMK 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. 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).

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. 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.

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. MGR continued to enjoy popular support in his third tenure until his death on 24 December 1987.

File:Janaki Ramachandran.jpg

MGR's wife Janaki Ramachandran

Succession crisis (1987–1989)

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. 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.

Jayalalithaa era (1989 - 5 December 2016)

The AIADMK allied with the Congress and swept to power in the 1991 assembly election under the leadership of Jayalalitha 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 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.

Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Late. 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. AIADMK shared power with the BJP in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee headed government between 1998 and 1999, 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. 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 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.

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. 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.

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 third time.

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.

Due to her resignation O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as Chief Minister on 29 September 2014. 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. 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.

Expansion beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

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 54 candidates across the state of Kerala in the 2006 assembly election and had contested on its own.

In Karnataka, the party had members in the state assembly and has influence in the Tamil-speaking areas of Bangalore and Kolar district. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has a following in places like Mumbai and Delhi and in countries where Tamils are present.

V. K. Sasikala & Dhinakaran era (16 December 2016 - 20 August 2017)

File:Sasikala Natarajan.jpg

Sasikala

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.

File:TTV Dhinakaran.jpg

Sasikala's nephew Dhinakaran

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 ".

Edappadi K. Palaniswami & O. Panneerselvam era (21 August 2017 - Present)

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 (chairman) 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. 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 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. However the Madras High Court extended its stay on the floor test and by-elections on 18 seats of the dissident MLAs hence securing Palaniswami government. 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 From 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 said that EPS and OPS camp are original AIADMK.

After that Mr.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.

Now the self-claimed General Secretary of AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala has filed an review petition from her side on Supreme Court of India.

Policies

MGR indicated he never "favored anti-Brahminism and AIADMK would oppose ethnic exclusion". Janaki and Jayalalithaa later fought for the lead position. The AIADMK sought to depoliticize the education policy of the government by not insisting that education be the Tamil language. Policies of AIADMK were targeted to the poorer segments of Tamil society – poor, rickshaw pullers, and destitute women and centralizing the massive noon meal scheme for children. There was ambivalence toward the reservation policy and interests of farmers.

The AIADMK and its prime opposition party, the DMK posted an array of populist schemes targeting the human development index of the state. Both the parties have schemes listed in the election manifestos covering segments of the population including fishermen, farmers, and school children. Till the 2000s, the parties had welfare schemes like maternity assistance, subsidized public transport, and educational grants. After the 2000s, the parties started competing at an increasing level for the distribution of consumer goods. The AIADMK government distributed free cycles to class 11 and class 12 students during its tenure of 2001–06. The DMK, in competition, promised free color televisions in its manifesto in 2006 assembly elections. The competition continued during the 2011 assembly elections when both parties announced free laptops for schools students and grinders mixers and fans for public.

Criticism

Being a popular actor, MGR's fan clubs became a source for electoral mobilization. The head of his fan club, R. M. Veerappan, became a lieutenant, and fellow actress J. Jayalalithaa was groomed as a possible heir apparent. There was a near administrative collapse during MGR's rule, and the state's rank in industrial production dropped from 3rd in the nation in 1977 to 13th position in 1987. Populist schemes that consumed two-thirds of the state's budget resulted in long-term economic costs. MGR was running a centralized administration which caused a severe toll on the state administration during his extended period of ill health.

Jayalalithaa was also accused of creating a personality cult, with fans and party activists calling her 'Amma' ('mother' in Tamil). Her face adorned food canteens, pharmacies, salt packets, laptop computers, baby care kits, bottled water, medicine shops and cement bags. Following her imprisonment on 27 September 2014, her supporters held protests and wept openly. Her replacement, the party's former minister O. Panneerselvam, also wept during his inauguration, with colleagues saying they were in mourning. Due to the centralized leadership of Jayalalithaa, the state of Tamil Nadu was experiencing policy paralysis, with most legislators and party cadres protesting against her conviction with hunger fasts, road and rail blockades.

Election history

Tamil Nadu

Year	General election	Votes polled	Seats won/Seats contested
02-04-1973	5th Assembly		11
31-01-1976	5th Assembly		16
1977	6th Assembly	5,194,876	132/155
1977	6th Lok Sabha	5,365,076	17
1980	7th Assembly	7,303,010	129/177
1980	7th Lok Sabha	4,674,064	2
1984	8th Assembly	8,030,809	134
1984	8th Lok Sabha	3,968,967	12
1989	9th Assembly	148,630	2 (Janaki faction)
1989	9th Assembly		27 (Jayalalithaa faction)
1989	9th Lok Sabha	4,518,649	11
1991	10th Assembly	10,940,966	164/168
1991	10th Lok Sabha	4,470,542	11
1996	11th Assembly	5,831,383	4
1996	11th Lok Sabha	2,130,286	0
1998	12th Lok Sabha	6,628,928	18
1999	13th Lok Sabha	6,992,003	10
2001	12th Assembly	8,815,387	132
2004	14th Lok Sabha	8,547,014	0
2006	13th Assembly	10,768,559	61
2009	15th Lok Sabha	6,953,591	9
2011	14th Assembly	14,149,681	150/160
2014	16th Lok Sabha	18,115,825	37/39
2016	15th Assembly	17,617,060	123/234
2019	17th Lok Sabha	7,830,520	1/20

Puducherry

Year	General election	Votes polled	Seats won
1974	3rd Assembly	60,812	1
1977	4th Assembly	69,873	14
1977	6th Lok Sabha	115,302	1
1980	5th Assembly	45,623	0
1985	6th Assembly	47,521	6
1990	7th Assembly	76,337	3
1991	8th Assembly	67,792	6
1996	9th Assembly	57,678	3
1998	12th Lok Sabha	102,622	1
2001	10th Assembly	59,926	5
2006	11th Assembly		5
2016	12th Assembly	134,597	4

Karnataka

Year	General election	Votes polled	Seats won
1983	7th Assembly	16,234	1 (KGF)
1989	9th Assembly	32,938	1 (KGF)
1994	10th Assembly	16,893	1 (Gandhi Nagar)
1999	11th Assembly	22,225	1 (KGF)

List of Chief Ministers from AIADMK

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu:

1. M. G. Ramachandran (1977–1987)
2. Janaki Ramachandran (7 January 1988 - 30 January 1988)
3. J. Jayalalithaa (1991–1996, 2001, 2002–2006, 2011–2014, 2015-2016, 23 May 2016 – 5 December 2016)
4. O Paneerselvam (2001–2002, 2014-2015, 6 December 2016 – 16 February 2017)
5. Edappadi K. Palaniswami (16 February 2017 - Incumbent)

Acting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu:

1. V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (24 December 1987 – 7 January 1988)

Chief Minister of Puducherry:

1. Subramanyan Ramaswamy (6 March 1974 - 28 March 1974, 2 July 1977 - 12 November 1978)

List of Deputy Chief Ministers from AIADMK

Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu:

1. O. Panneerselvam (21 August 2017 - Incumbent)

References

• Ahuja, M. L. (1998), Electoral politics and general elections in India, 1952–1998, New Delhi: Mittal Publication, ISBN 81-7099-711-9.
• Kohli, Atul (1990), Democracy and discontent: India's growing crisis of governability, Canada: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-39692-1.
• Mahendra Singh, Geetha Kamalakshi (2006), India votes: Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha elections 2001–2005, New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, ISBN 81-7625-647-1.
• Murali, Geetha Kamalakshi; University of California, Berkeley (2007), Tracing the signs: Voter mobilization and the functionality of ideas in ..., MI: ProQuest LLC.
• Sinha, Aseema (2005), The regional roots of developmental politics in India: a divided leviathan, IN, USA: Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-34404-2.
• Thol, Thirumaavalavan; Meena Kandaswamy, Uproot Hindutva: the fiery voice of the liberation panthers, Kolkata, ISBN 81-85604-79-7.
• "Jaya Network". Jaya Network. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• "Dr. Namathu MGR". Dr. Namathu MGR. Retrieved 17 January 2012.

External links

• IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
• Official website
• Support AIADMK
• AIADMK announced a hunger strike on April 2 over Cauvery issue