Tamil Nadu Timeline

PoliticsDMK-AIADMK alternation

AIADMK allies with the BJP; NDA wins 30 seats in Tamil Nadu

· Chennai

Breaking its long alliance with the Congress, the AIADMK joined the BJP-led front, which won 30 of Tamil Nadu's 39 Lok Sabha seats.

Fresh Lok Sabha elections were called in 1998 after the Congress withdrew support from the I. K. Gujral government over the DMK's presence in it, following the Jain Commission report. J. Jayalalithaa's AIADMK broke off its long alliance with the Congress and allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party and other parties in the National Democratic Alliance. The alliance won 30 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu. The state's result was important in enabling Atal Bihari Vajpayee to form a government, in which the AIADMK took part.

Related events

  1. 1996

    1. May 1996 to May 2001ChennaiPolitics

      DMK-TMC alliance wins 1996 election

      The DMK-TMC alliance won 221 of 234 assembly seats and all 39 Lok Sabha seats; M. Karunanidhi became Chief Minister for the fourth time.

  2. 1999

    1. Sep 1999ChennaiPolitics

      DMK allies with the BJP; NDA wins 26 seats in Tamil Nadu

      With the AIADMK out of the NDA, the DMK allied with the BJP for the first time and the NDA won 26 of Tamil Nadu's 39 Lok Sabha seats.

    2. Apr 1999New DelhiPolitics

      AIADMK withdraws support, Vajpayee government falls

      The AIADMK's withdrawal of support led to the Vajpayee government losing a confidence vote by a single vote.

  3. 2004

    1. 13 May 2004ChennaiPolitics

      DMK-led alliance wins all 39 Lok Sabha seats

      The DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance with the Congress and Left won every Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; the AIADMK-BJP alliance won none.

  4. 2019

    1. 23 May 2019ChennaiPolitics

      DMK alliance sweeps 2019 Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu

      The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance won 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.

  5. 2024

    1. 4 Jun 2024ChennaiPolitics

      DMK alliance wins all 39 Lok Sabha seats

      The DMK-led INDIA bloc won all 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu; the AIADMK and BJP, contesting separately, won none.

Open in the timeline explorer