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.
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.
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.
Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani (1988-1989) was a short-lived political party found by veteran Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan in the year 1988. Sivaji Ganesan had a long running relation with many political parties, with his first movie itself being a propaganda movie of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.This party also contested on ladder symbol in 1989 election.
The thirteenth legislative assembly election, of Tamil Nadu was held on 8 May 2006. It was held for all 234 constituencies to elect the government in the state for the following five years. The votes were counted three days later on 11 May 2006 and all the results were out by the end of the day. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led (DMK) front won the elections, with the DMK emerging as the single-largest party with 96 seats, and its leader, M Karunanidhi was sworn in as Chief Minister for a fifth and final term. This election marked the first time the state saw a hung assembly with no party gaining a majority of its own. As a result, DMK formed a minority government with its allies, which is the first in the state since the 1952 election. 13th Assembly was instituted due to this election.
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.
Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, also known as Parithi Ellamvazhuthi, was an Indian politician. Born as Gandhi to Elamparithi and Kannammal. His father Elamparithi was a DMK High Command member during 1970's & 80's. At a very young age, he was attracted to the ideologies of DMK and chose to have political journey.
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 eleventh legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 2 May 1996. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led front won the election and its leader M. Karunanidhi, became the chief minister. This was his fourth term in office. S. Balakrishnan, also known as So. Balakrishnan, of Tamil Maanila Congress, became the Leader of the Opposition. The incumbent All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government was defeated in a landslide with its general secretary and outgoing chief minister J. Jayalalithaa losing the election from the Bargur constituency. She became the first Incumbent Chief Minister since M. Bakthavatsalam in 1967 to lose her own constituency.
The tenth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 24 June 1991. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) – Indian National Congress (INC) alliance won the elections in a landslide and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa became the chief minister. This was her first term in office. The united strength of AIADMK, the alliance with the Congress, and the wave of public sympathy in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi assassination combined to produce a massive victory for the AIADMK. The DMK could only win 2 seats. This was the worst performance of the DMK since it entered electoral politics in the 1957.
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. Earlier in 1972, M.G.R had founded the AIADMK following his expulsion from the DMK after differences arose between him and DMK leader M. Karunanidhi. On 31 January 1976, Karunanidhi's government was dismissed by the central government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi citing non-co-operation for MISA and President's rule was imposed on the state. Karunanidhi had been at odds with Indira Gandhi over his opposition to Emergency and allied with Janata Party founded by Jayaprakash Narayan. M.G.R remained as Chief Minister until he died in 1987, winning the next two elections held in 1980 and 1984. Due to this feat, M.G.R inadvertently became an example for entry of famous actors to enter politics, with a hope that they too may become Chief minister one day. then Telugu superstar N.T.R followed M.G.R's suit in 1983 and won the Andhra Pradesh general Elections to become the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Since then, no other actor has been able to recreate M.G.R's achievements in electoral Politics.
Paul Hector Pandian was an Indian politician of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu from Tirunelveli district. He served as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 1985 to 1989. He served as Deputy Speaker and Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 21 June 1980 to 5 February 1989. He was one of the only two candidates elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislature from the V. N. Janaki Ramachandran Faction of AIADMK in 1989, when he won the Cheranmahadevi seat. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tirunelveli Parliamentary constituency in 1999. He was the organising secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which was led by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
The 1998 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. New elections were called when Indian National Congress (INC) left the United Front government led by I. K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi. The result was a landslide victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 30 seats, which helped result in Atal Bihari Vajpayee being sworn in as the 16th Prime Minister of India. J. Jayalalithaa and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, broke off from their long alliance with Indian National Congress and formed an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party, by joining the National Democratic Alliance. This state proved to be very important in determining the prime minister, since the 18 seats of AIADMK proved valuable for BJP to hold power. That was short-lived, since the AIADMK left the alliance in less than a year, and BJP lost the vote of confidence resulting in fresh elections being called.
By-elections to nine state assembly constituencies were held in Tamil Nadu, in four separate phases. Election for Thirumangalam was held on 9 January and for Bargur, Thondamuthur, Ilaiyangudi, Cumbum, and Srivaikuntam constituencies on 18 August. Also, 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.
V. Karuppasamy Pandian is an Indian politician and a former Member of the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu. He is currently one of the leaders of the anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) party in Tirunelveli district.
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.
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.
The 2014 Indian general elections for Tamil Nadu's 39 seats in the 16th Lok Sabha were held on 24 April 2014. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam led by its general secretary J. Jayalalithaa won a spectacular victory, taking 37 of the 39 seats. The total electors in the state of Tamil Nadu for the election was 55,114,867 and 73.74% of voters exercised their right to do so. The results of the elections were declared on 16 May 2014.
The AIADMK-led Alliance is an Indian regional political party alliance in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry led by the Dravidian party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founded by the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.).
