Elections in Tamil Nadu

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

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.

Assembly constituencies

See also: List of Assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu

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	1-0
2015-2016	AIADMK	1-0
2016-2017	AIADMK	3-0
2017-2018	T. T. V. Dhinakaran - Independent	1-0
2019-2020	DMK	13-9

Election Maps (1977-2016)

• 
  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	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Indian National Congress
1957	Second Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Indian National Congress
1962	Third Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Indian National Congress
1967	Fourth Lok Sabha		United Front (DMK/SWA/CPM/ML)*
1971	Fifth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Congress (Indira) alliance (DMK/INC/CPI/FBL/ML)
1977	Sixth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Congress (Indira) alliance (ADMK/INC/CPI)*	39	34
1980	Seventh Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Congress (Indira) alliance (DMK/INC/ML) - 37/39, AIADMK - 2 seats	39	37
1984	Eighth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Congress alliance (ADMK/INC)	39	37
1989	Ninth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Congress alliance (ADMK/INC)	39	38
1991	Tenth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	Congress alliance (ADMK/INC)	39	39
1996	Eleventh Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:CPI(M)/meta/color" |	United Front (DMK/TMC/CPI)	39	39
1998	Twelfth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:BJP/meta/color" |	National Democratic Alliance (ADMK/BJP/PMK/MDMK/JP/TRC) - 30/39, DMK+TMC= 8-9 seats	39	30
1999	Thirteenth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:BJP/meta/color" |	National Democratic Alliance (DMK/BJP/PMK/MDMK/MADMK) - 26/39 seats	39	26
2004	Fourteenth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	United Progressive Alliance (DMK/INC/PMK/MDMK/CPI/CPM) - 39/39	39	39
2009	Fifteenth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	United Progressive Alliance (DMK/INC/VCK) 27 out of 39; ADMK - 10-12 seats	39	27
2014	Sixteenth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:AIADMK/meta/color" |	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (37 out of 39)	39	37
2019	Seventeenth Lok Sabha	style="background-color: Template:INC/meta/color" |	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

• Government of Tamil Nadu
• Local Body Election in Tamil Nadu

External links

• Tamilnadu Election Polls 2016
• Election Commission of India
• Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
• Indian Elections
• Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2011