Delimitation and reorganisation
On 1 October 1953, a separate Andhra State consisting of the Telugu-speaking areas of the composite Madras State was formed, and the Kannada-speaking area of Bellary District was merged with the then Mysore State. This reduced the strength of the Legislative Assembly to 231.
On 1 November 1956, the States Reorganisation Act 1956 took effect, and consequently, the constituencies in the erstwhile Malabar district were merged with the Kerala State. This further reduced the strength to 190. The Tamil-speaking area of Kerala (present-day Kanyakumari district) and Shenkottah taluk were added to Madras State. [3]
According to the new Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order 1956, made by the Delimitation Commission of India under the provisions of the State Reorganisation Act, 1956, the strength of the Madras Legislative Assembly was increased to 205. [4] The 1957 elections were conducted for these 205 seats. In 1959, as a result of The Andhra Pradesh and Madras (Alteration of Boundaries) Act 1959, one member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was allotted to Madras, increasing its Legislative Assembly strength to 206. [4]
Two-member constituencies
Out of the total 167 constituencies in the state, 38 were two-member constituencies, 37 of which had one reserved for Scheduled caste candidates and one for Scheduled tribe candidates. [4] These constituencies were larger in size and had a greater number of voters (more than 1,00,000) [5] when compared to general constituencies. Two separate lists of candidates, a general list and a reserved list, are contested in those constituencies. Each voter had to cast two votes, one for each list.
The two winners were chosen as follows:
- Reserved Member: Candidate with the most votes among the reserved (SC/ST) list candidates
- General Member: Candidate with the most votes among the rest of the candidates, excluding the Reserved Member (including both reserved and general lists).
This system led to anomalies. In some cases, like the Coimbatore-II constituency in the 1957 election, both elected members belonged to the reserved list; the candidate with the second highest number of votes in the reserved list secured more votes than the highest vote-getter in the general list. Multiple members were elected only in the 1952 and 1957 elections, as double-member representation was abolished in 1961 by the enactment of the Two-Member Constituencies Abolition Act, 1961. [6]
Parties and issues
Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc, Praja Socialist Party, Socialist Party, Congress Reform Committee (Indian National Democratic Congress), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) were the major parties contesting this election. This was the first election contested by the DMK since its formation in 1949. The decision to contest elections was taken in 1956 at the party's Trichy conference. The party fielded its candidates in 8 parliamentary and 117 assembly seats as independents since it was not an officially recognised party. [7] The increased Tamilian character of the Congress party after the appointment of K. Kamaraj, a non-Brahman, as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, robbed DMK of its main electoral plank as the sole proponent of Tamil nationalism. It increasingly changed its focus to economic issues and the slower industrialization of the South as an election issue. The DMK election manifesto had a socialist image, and the creation of Dravida Nadu became a side issue as it implicitly accepted the prevailing constitutional order. [8] [9]
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy issued a statement in support of K. Kamaraj before the commencement of the election. In October 1956, the central executive of Dravidar Kazhagam resolved to support K. Kamaraj. [10]
Since Mr. Kamaraj has done his best to serve the Tamilians, since he has changed Acharyar's educational system designed to perpetuate the caste system, since he has conferred many jobs and many benefits on Tamilians in the educational and other spheres and since the Brahman and DMK people are trying to oust him from power, it has become the duty of all Tamilians to support Mr. Kamaraj and his followers in the election [10] [11]
K. Kamaraj accepted the support of Dravidar Kazhagam and said if the Kazhagam canvassed votes for him out of their own free will, he could not possibly tell them he did not want their votes. He also made it clear that the Congress party cannot support a party that is communal in nature, and he did not in any way share E. V. Ramasamy's views. [10] [12]
K. Kamaraj's decision to accept support and provide candidature to some former members of Dravidar Kazhagam caused division within Congress, resulting in a new party called the Congress Reform Committee (CRC). Though the party was created in the last moment, it fielded candidates in 12 parliamentary and 55 assembly seats. [13]
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry, where it is currently the main opposition.
The Congress Reform Committee (CRC) was formed by a group of dissidents that left the Indian National Congress in the Madras State. The CRC was led by C. Rajagopalachari, who had been defeated by Kamaraj in the inner-party disputes over leadership of the Congress in Tamil Nadu. CRC was formed just one month before the 1957 elections to the Lok Sabha and the Madras state legislative assembly.
Politics of Tamil Nadu is the politics related to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Dravidian parties include an array of regional political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Justice Party and the Dravidian movement of C. Natesanar and Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India, where most of the Northern Indian, Eastern Indian and Western Indian languages are classified as Indo-Aryan, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian. Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India over the politics and economy of the South Indian province known as Madras Presidency.
Anbil P. Dharmalingam was a politician from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and founder member of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute is named after him.
The eighth legislative assembly election for Tamil Nadu was held on 24 December 1984. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the election and its general secretary, incumbent M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R) was sworn in as Chief Minister, for the third time. The election victory was mainly attributed to the sympathy wave created by Indira Gandhi's assassination and M.G.R's illness coupled with Rajiv Gandhi's popularity. This is the last election M.G.R contested as he died in office in 1987. This is also the only General Election which M. Karunanidhi did not contest since 1957 until his death. As of 2023, this is the last election where the ruling party gained seats.
The sixth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 10 June 1977. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the election defeating its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). M. G. Ramachandran, the AIADMK founder and a leading Tamil film actor, was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time. The election was a four-cornered contest between the AIADMK, DMK, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Janata Party.
The fifth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held in March 1971. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was re-elected, after its first victory under the leadership of C N Annadurai in 1967. This was the first time M. Karunanidhi, contested as the leader of DMK party won the election, since he assumed Chief Ministership for the first time, after the death of C N Annadurai. Karunanidhi had emerged successfully in the leadership crisis (having supported by M. G. Ramachandran, against Nedunchezhiyan, which ensued after the death of C. N. Annadurai. The main opposition party in the election was Indian National Congress led by K. Kamaraj, whereas the Indian National Congress faction aligned with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The fourth legislative assembly election of Madras State was held in February 1967. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led coalition under the leadership of C.N. Annadurai won the election defeating the Indian National Congress (Congress). Anti-Hindi agitations, the rising prices of essential commodities, and a shortage of rice were the dominant issues. K. Kamaraj's resignation as the Chief Minister in 1963, to concentrate on party affairs, along with persistent rumors of corruption had weakened the incumbent Congress Government. This was the second time after Communist Party of India winning Kerala assembly elections in 1957, for a non-Congress party to gain the majority in a state in India, and the last time that Congress held power in Tamil Nadu. It was the first time a party or pre-election alliance formed a non-Congress government with an absolute majority. It marked the beginning of Dravidian dominance in the politics of Tamil Nadu. Annadurai, who became the first non-Congress chief minister of post-independence Tamil Nadu, died in office in 1969 and V.R. Nedunchezhiyan took over as acting chief minister.
The first legislative assembly Election to the Madras state based on universal adult suffrage was held in 27 March 1952. This was the first election held in Madras state after the Indian Independence. This election was officially known as the 1951 Madras State Election, even though through delays, actual voting didn't take place until early 1952.
The third legislative assembly election to the Madras state was held on 21 February 1962. The Indian National Congress party, led by K. Kamaraj, won the election. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made significant in-roads in the election and emerged as the second party for the first time by winning 50 seats. 1962 Election remains the most recent election in which Indian National Congress to form a majority Government in the State as its support was heavily declined due to rise of Dravidian political parties.
S. Natarajan Udayar was an Indian politician and 3 time DMK MLA from Thanjavur Constituency. A close friend and supporter of Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy, he was an early member of Dravidar Kazhagam. His association with Aringar C N Annadurai made him part ways with E.V.R. politically and join Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as one of the earliest and founding members of DMK.
By-elections to nine state assembly constituencies were held in Tamil Nadu, in four separate phases. The election for Thirumangalam was held on 9 January and for Bargur, Thondamuthur, Ilaiyangudi, Cumbum, and Srivaikuntam constituencies on 18 August. Also, the election took place for Vandavasi and Tiruchendur constituency on 19 December 2009 and finally for Pennagaram constituency on 27 March 2010. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) defeated All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Thirumangalam in the first phase and kept the winning momentum in the following general election.
Muthuvelayudha Perumal Appavu is an Indian politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Tamil Nadu. He is the current Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He has contested in the Radhapuram state assembly constituency and won four times.
S. Madhavan was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly as a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate from the Thirukoshtiyur constituency in the 1962 election, from the Tiruppattur constituency in 1967 and 1971, and as an Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate in 1984 election.
P U Shanmugam, affectionately called as Paa Vuu Saa was an Indian politician and former minister of Tamil Nadu for Internal affairs, former minister of Public works, former minister of public health and various other portfolios on various tenures. The Dravidian veteran also worked as the Organisation Secretary of DMK and the 3rd General Secretary of AIADMK. He defeated the Indian National Congress candidate in Tiruvannamalai Assembly constituency by-election in 1963 on DMK ticket.
Sathyavani Muthu was an Indian politician and influential leader from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu, Rajya Sabha member and Union Minister. She began her political career as a member of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, began her own party, Thazhthapattor Munnetra Kazhagam and later joined the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. In late 1990s, she again joined in DMK.
N. V. Natarajan was an Indian politician of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was a founding member of the DMK. He served as the Minister of Labour and Backward Classes in the Tamil Nadu government during 1969–1975.
The list of political families of Tamil Nadu state in India.
The fifth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held in March 1971. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was re-elected, after its first victory under the leadership of C N Annadurai in 1967. This was the first time M. Karunanidhi, contested as the leader of DMK party won the election, since he assumed Chief Ministership for the first time, after the death of C N Annadurai. Karunanidhi had emerged successfully in the leadership crisis with other party leaders M. G. Ramachandran, and Nedunchezhiyan, which ensued after the death of C. N. Annadurai. The main opposition party in the election was Indian National Congress (Organisation) led by K. Kamaraj, whereas the Indian National Congress (Indira) faction aligned with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. This was the last election that had only 2 major parties in Tamilnadu. After the election, MGR was slowly cornered out of DMK, and finally he formed AIADMK, which has since then been the close equal of DMK.
