Tamil Nadu Timeline

PoliticsMadras State (Congress era)

DMK contests its first election

· Chennai

DMK contests its first election
India Post, Government of India, GODL-India · Wikimedia Commons

Won by Kamaraj's Congress, the 1957 Assembly election was the first in which the DMK took part after its founding.

In March 1957 voters chose a new Madras Legislative Assembly, the first since the state's reorganisation in 1956. Led by K. Kamaraj, the Indian National Congress secured a clear majority, and he stayed on as Chief Minister. For the first time since it was formed in 1949, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam entered the electoral contest; its candidates stood as independents and captured a number of seats. The outcome signalled the DMK's arrival in parliamentary politics.

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