The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for demanding an account as the party treasurer. The party is adhering to the policy of socialism and secularism based on the principles of C. N. Annadurai (Anna) collectively coined as Annaism by M.G.R. The party has won a seven-time majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and has emerged as the most successful political outfit in the state's history. It is currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran , popularly known by his initials M.G.R., was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987. He was the founder and first general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. On 19 March 1988, Ramachandran was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Ramachandran is regarded as one of the most influential politicians of post-independence India.
Muthuvel Karunanidhi was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He is popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Artist) and Mutthamizh Arignar for his contributions to Tamil literature. He had the longest intermittent tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with 6,863 days in office. He was also a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and ten-time president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party. Karunanidhi has the record of never losing an election to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957. Before entering politics, he worked in the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter. He also made contributions to Tamil literature, having written stories, plays, novels, and a multiple-volume memoir. Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018 at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai after a series of prolonged, age-related illnesses.
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ganesan is acknowledged as one of the greatest Indian actors of all time and among the most imitated one by other actors. He was known for his versatility and the variety of roles he depicted on screen, which gave him also the Tamil nickname Nadigar Thilagam. In a career that spanned close to five decades, he had acted in 288 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Sivaji Ganesan is the only Tamil actor to have played the lead role in over 250 films.
Pattali Makkal Katchi is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India, founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 for the Vanniyar caste in northern Tamil Nadu. It is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It contests the elections with the "Ripe Mango" symbol.
The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (transl. Tamil State Congress (Moopanar); abbr.TMC(M)) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It was founded by the former member of parliament of the Republic of India G. K. Moopanar on 29 March 1996 as a breakaway faction from the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee.
Krishnasaamy Bhagyaraj is an Indian director, actor, screenwriter, music director, producer and politician active mainly in Tamil films. He has also written and directed Hindi films and TV serials. As an actor, he has worked in more than 75 films and has directed more than 25 films. He won a Filmfare Best Actor Award for Mundhanai Mudichu (1983). He received Lifetime Achievement Award in SIIMA (2014). He is the editor of weekly magazine Bhagya and has also written several novels.
Vijayaraj Alagarswami , better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor and politician who appeared as a lead in Tamil cinema. He acted in over 150 films in his career spanning four decades. He was well known for his performances in Vaidehi Kathirunthal (1984), Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986), Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (1988), Senthoora Poove (1988), Pulan Visaranai (1990), Chinna Gounder (1992), Honest Raj (1994), Thayagam (1996) and Vaanathaippola (2000).
Kumaravadivel Natarajan known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and occasional playback singer, having acted mainly in Tamil movies. He has at least 200 credits to his filmography and several awards including three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Best Comedian.
Murali Karthikeyan Muthuraman, better known by his stage name Karthik, is an Indian actor, playback singer and politician who works in Tamil cinema. He is the son of veteran actor R. Muthuraman. In the 1980s and 90s, Karthik was one of the biggest stars in the industry. He was first introduced by Bharathiraja in the Tamil film Alaigal Oivathillai (1981) and became a lead actor in Tamil films by his own. He has also appeared in some Telugu films where he was initially credited as Murali. Karthik is popularly known as Navarasa Nayagan for his "ability to emote all forms of actions and emotions". He has acted in more than 125 films. He has been the recipient of four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, a Nandi Award and four Filmfare Awards South.
Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR, was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema.
The twelfth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 10 May 2001. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led front won the elections and its general secretary, J. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister, even though she could not legally run as MLA in this election. She was unanimously nominated as Chief Minister by her party and was ready to serve her second term. But due to criminal and corruption charges from her first term, on 21 September 2001, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled in a unanimous verdict that "a person who is convicted for a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such". Thereby, the bench decided that "in the appointment of Dr. J. Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister there has been a clear infringement of a Constitutional provision and that a writ of quo warranto must issue". In effect, her appointment as Chief Minister was declared null and invalid with retrospective effect. Therefore, technically, she was not the Chief Minister in the period between 14 May 2001 and 21 September 2001. After her resignation on 21 September 2001, she put in O. Panneerselvam, as the official 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, until she could clear up the charges from her first term, so she can take up the mantle of Chief Minister officially, on 2 March 2002.
The Nadigar Sangam, officially known as the South Indian Artistes' Association, is a union for film, television, and stage actors in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, based in Chennai. Formed in 1952, the group has a charitable trust fund to provide pensions to retired actors, voice support for actors caught in controversy, and have collectively protested socio-political issues.
Udhayanidhi Stalin is an Indian film producer, politician and former actor who prominently worked in Tamil cinema. He was appointed as Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, Special act implementation Department of Tamil Nadu in the ministry by his father the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M. K. Stalin in December 2022. He is a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, representing the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency.
The Fourteenth Legislative Assembly Election was held on 13 April 2011 to elect members from 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Results were released on 13 May 2011. Two major parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) faced the election as coalitions of multiple political parties: DMK front consisted of 8 parties and the AIADMK of 11 parties. Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), which had contested the previous elections independently, allied with the AIADMK coalition. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam boycotted the election following a disagreement with Jayalalithaa over seat-sharing. The outgoing Karunanidhi government was noted for the construction of new assembly building in Chennai, execution of various developmental projects, and implementation of programmes including free health care for the poor and issuance of a range of freebies such as color television to all. However, these were heavily overshadowed by other major issues such as incessant power cuts in households and industries, excessive sand mining, increasing prices of essential items, 2G spectrum case and undue influence of Karunanidhi's extended family in various aspects of Tamil politics and business and even media.
Kumarimuthu was a Tamil film character actor, comedian and politician of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He was known for his unique comical laugh.
Hariharan Raja Sharma also known as H. Raja is an Indian politician. He started his political-social life as an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) promoter. He was a MLA representing the Karaikudi constituency in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006. He was one of the national secretaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2014 to 2020.
The Sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election was held on 6 April 2021, to elect representatives from the 234 constituencies in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election, ending the decade-long reign of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The DMK's leader M. K. Stalin became the eighth Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and the 12th Chief Minister since the 1956 reorganization. He replaced Edappadi K. Palaniswami of the AIADMK.
The Pollachi sexual assault case refers to a case of rape and extortion of numerous women by a gang in Pollachi, Coimbatore in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The gang would entice women into isolated places after befriending them on social media and sexually assault them and filmed the act. The videos were later used to blackmail the women for sexual favors or money. The gang came into spotlight after the family of a 19-year-old college student who claimed to had been sexually assaulted and blackmailed complained to the police. According to media accounts, at least 200 women are sexually assaulted in the very same manner and the victims were college and school teachers, doctors, higher secondary school students from all over the state. On the mobiles of the accused, police said they discovered dozens of video recordings of women being abused at a farmhouse belonging to one of the accused and some were leaked.
K. Rajan is an Indian film producer and film director who has worked on Tamil films.
