Tamil Nadu Timeline

PoliticsRise of Dravidian rule

DMK wins 184 seats in the 1971 election

· Chennai

DMK wins 184 seats in the 1971 election
Government of Tamil Nadu, GODL-India · Wikimedia Commons

The DMK, allied with Indira Gandhi's Congress, won a landslide in the first Assembly election held under the name Tamil Nadu.

In the 1971 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, the DMK led a front allied with Indira Gandhi's Congress, which did not contest Assembly seats in exchange for Lok Sabha seats. The DMK won 184 seats with about 48.6 percent of the vote, the largest single-party tally in the state's history. The opposition front of Kamaraj's Congress (O) and Rajaji's Swatantra Party won only a small number of seats. M. Karunanidhi continued as Chief Minister.

Related events

  1. 1957

    1. Mar 1957ChennaiPolitics

      DMK contests its first election

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

  2. 1967

    1. Feb 1967ChennaiPolitics

      DMK wins the 1967 Assembly election

      A DMK-led alliance defeated the Congress, ending Congress rule in Madras State; Kamaraj lost his own seat.

  3. 1977

    1. Mar 1977ChennaiPolitics

      Congress-AIADMK alliance wins 34 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu

      In the post-Emergency Lok Sabha election, the Congress-AIADMK-CPI alliance won 34 of Tamil Nadu's 39 seats even as the Janata Party took power nationally.

    2. 30 Jun 1977ChennaiPolitics

      AIADMK wins assembly election, M. G. Ramachandran becomes Chief Minister

      The AIADMK-led alliance won the 1977 assembly election and M. G. Ramachandran was sworn in as Chief Minister.

  4. 1980

    1. 9 Jun 1980ChennaiPolitics

      AIADMK re-elected, MGR sworn in for second term

      Months after the DMK and Congress swept the Lok Sabha polls, the AIADMK won the May 1980 assembly election, bringing MGR back as Chief Minister.

  5. 2006

    1. 13 May 2006 to 16 May 2011ChennaiPolitics

      DMK forms a minority government

      M. Karunanidhi became Chief Minister for the fifth time, heading a DMK government that depended on outside support from the Congress.

Open in the timeline explorer