1971 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu

Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1971
39 (of 518) seats in the Lok Sabha
Registered	23,064,983
Turnout	16,565,949 (71.82%) 4.74%
	Tamil Nadu
Prime Minister before election; Indira Gandhi ; INC(R)	Prime Minister after election; Indira Gandhi ; INC(R)

Last updated June 01, 2025

The 1971 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. After winning in 1967, DMK supported the Congress party under Indira Gandhi, and the 25 DMK MPs, ensured her to stay in power as a minority government, from 1969 to 1971.^[1] This state was crucial for Indira Gandhi to hold, in order for her to stay in power. The result was a victory for Indian National Congress (Indira) and its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam winning 38 seats (with 5 seats going to the Left Front), while Opposition Congress and Swatantra Party could only win 1 seat. DMK won every seat it contested except the seat contested by K. Kamarajar in Nagercoil.

Seat Allotment

Progressive Front

No.		Leader	Seats
1.	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	M. Karunanidhi	24
2.	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira Gandhi	9
3.	Communist Party of India	M. Kalyanasundaram	4
4.	All India Forward Bloc	P. K. Mookiah Thevar	1
5.	Indian Union Muslim League	Muhammed Ismail	1

Democratic Front

No.		Leader	Seats
1.	Indian National Congress (Organization)	K. Kamaraj	29
2.	Swatantra Party	C. Rajagopalachari	9
3.	Samyukta Socialist Party	George Fernandes	1

Voting and results

Alliance			Popular Vote	Percentage	Swing	Seats won	Seat Change
	Progressive Front	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	5,622,758	35.25%	0.53%	23	2
		Indian National Congress (Requistionist)	1,995,567	12.51%	29.18%	9	6
		Communist Party of India	866,399	5.43%	3.74%	4	4
		All India Forward Bloc	208,431	1.31%		1
		Independents	175,940	1.10%	0.07%	1
		Total	8,869,095	55.60%	24.73%	38	9
	Democratic Front	Indian National Congress (Organisation)	4,853,534	30.43%	new party	1	new party
		Swatantra Party	1,479,693	9.28%	0.12%	0	6
		Samyukta Socialist Party	141,605	0.89%	new party	0	new party
		Total	6,474,832	40.60%	31.44%	1	5
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)		260,833	1.64%	5.21%	0	4
	Independents		344,452	2.16%	1.00%	0
Total			15,949,212	100.00%		39
Valid Votes			15,949,212	96.28%
Invalid Votes			616,437	3.72%
Total Votes			16,565,649	100.00%
Registered Voters/Turnout			23,064,983	71.82%	4.74%

List of Elected MPs

Constituency	Winner	Party	Margin	Runner-up^a	Party^a
Madras North	Krishnan Manoharan	DMK	51,594	S. G. Vinayaga Moorthy	NCO
Madras South	Murasoli Maran	DMK	20,341	Narasimhan	SWA
Sriperumbudur (SC)	T. S. Lakshmanan	DMK	100,046	P. Kakkan	NCO
Chengalpattu	C. Chitti Babu	DMK	118,756	P. M. Muthukumarappa	NCO
Tiruttani	O. V. Alagesa Mudaliar	INC	84,105	P. Ramachandran	NCO
Vellore (SC)	R. P. Ulaganambi	DMK	85,321	T. Manavalan	NCO
Tiruppattur	C. K. Chinnaraji Gounder	DMK	55,063	N. Parthasarathy	SWA
Vandavasi	G. Viswanathan	DMK	87,955	A. Krishnaswamy	NCO
Tindivanam	M. R. Lakshmi Narayanan	INC	61,475	M. P. Radhakrishnan	SWA
Cuddalore	S. Radhakrishnan	INC	36,487	R. Muthukumaran	NCO
Chidambaram (SC)	V. Mayavan	DMK	22,398	L. Elaya Perumal	NCO
Kallakurichi	M. Deiveekan	DMK	21,976	K. Veerasamy	NCO
Krishnagiri	T. Thirthagiri Gounder	INC	34,920	T. M. Thirupathy	SWA
Salem	E. R. Krishnan	DMK	54,796	M. P. Subramanyam	NCO
Mettur	G. Bhuvarahan	INC	66,140	K. Ramamurthy	NCO
Tiruchengode	M. Muthusami	DMK	60,047	T. M. Kaliannan	NCO
Nilgiris	J. Matha Gowder	DMK	61,094	Akkamma Devi	NCO
Coimbatore	K. Baladhandayutham	CPI	77,053	Ramaswamy	NCO
Pollachi	Narayanan	DMK	126,206	K. R. Nallasivam	SSP
Dharapuram (SC)	C. T. Dhandapani	DMK	116,186	K. Paramalai	NCO
Gobichettipalayam	P. A. Saminathan	DMK	60,492	E. V. K. Sampath	NCO
Periyakulam	S. M. Muhammed Sheriff	IND/IUML	41,925	H. Ajmal Khan	SWA
Dindigul	M. Rajangam	DMK	97,635	M. Cheemachamy	SWA
Madurai	R. V. Swaminathan	INC	72,359	S. Chinnakaruppa Thevar	NCO
Karur	K. Gopal	INC	73,293	V. Ramanathan	NCO
Tiruchirappalli	M. Kalyanasundaram	CPI	20,550	S. P. Thangavelu	NCO
Perambalur (SC)	A. Durairaju	DMK	61,569	M. Ayyakannu	NCO
Pudukkottai	K. Veeriah	DMK	48,395	R. Vijaya Raghunatha Thondaiman	NCO
Kumbakonam	Era Sezhiyan	DMK	38,753	C. R. Ramasamy	NCO
Mayuram	K. Subravelu	DMK	66,373	K. Rajangam	NCO
Nagapattinam	M. Kathamuthu	CPI	87,727	V. Sabasivam	NCO
Thanjavur	S. D. Somasundaram	DMK	100,008	R. Krishnasamy Gopalar	NCO
Sivaganga	Tha. Kiruttinan	DMK	100,008	Kannappa Valliappan	NCO
Ramanathapuram	P. K. Mookiah Thevar	FBL	69,155	S. Balakrishnan	NCO
Sivakasi	V. Jeyalakshmi	INC	85,662	R. Gopalakrishnan	SWA
Tirunelveli	S. A. Muruganantham	CPI	59,937	S. Palaniswaminathan	SWA
Tenkasi (SC)	A. M. Chellachami	INC	68,910	R. S. Arumugam	NCO
Tiruchendur	M. S. Sivasamy	DMK	26	M. Mathias	SWA
Nagercoil	K. Kamaraj	NCO	100,553	M. C. Balan	DMK

Bibliography

Footnotes

↑ Krishna, Sankaran (1999). Postcolonial insecurities: India, Sri Lanka, and the question of nationhood. University of Minnesota Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781452903873.

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[A-1] Krishna, Sankaran (1999). Postcolonial insecurities: India, Sri Lanka, and the question of nationhood. University of Minnesota Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781452903873.

[1]