1991 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election#Voting and results

On 30 January 1991, the DMK government which had come to power after winning the 1989 assembly election, was dismissed by the Indian Prime minister Chandra Shekhar using Article 356 of the Indian Constitution. President's rule was imposed on Tamil Nadu from 31 January. The reason cited for the dismissal was the deterioration of law and order in the state. The dismissal followed pressure on the Chandra Shekhar government by the Congress and AIADMK to dismiss the DMK government. The Chandra Shekhar government fell in March 1991 after the Congress withdrew its outside support. Fresh elections for both the Indian parliament and Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly were scheduled for June 1991.{{Cite journal| first = R.|last=Manivannan| title =1991 Tamil Nadu Elections: Issues, Strategies and Performance| journal = Economic and Political Weekly| volume = 27| issue = 4| pages = 164–170| date = 25 January 1992| jstor =4397536}}{{cite web

|first = Shubashree

|last = Desikan

|url = http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2008/12/19/stories/2008121950050200.htm

|title = Grace under fire

|work = Business Line

|location=Chennai

|date = 19 December 2008

|access-date = 19 January 2010

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100103091636/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2008/12/19/stories/2008121950050200.htm

|archive-date = 3 January 2010

|url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

|first =K. T.

|last = Rajasingham

| url =http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DF22Df04.html

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20020722000018/http://atimes.com/ind-pak/DF22Df04.html

| url-status =unfit

| archive-date =22 July 2002

| title = Srilanka: The Untold Story; Chapter 45: War continues with brutality

| work = Asia Times

| date = 22 January 2002

| access-date = 19 January 2010

}}{{cite web|last=Subramanian|first=T. S.|date=14 August 1999|title=SRI LANKA: Chronicle of murders|work=Frontline|volume=16|issue=17|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1617/16171020.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709205128/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1617/16171020.htm|archive-date=9 July 2010}}{{cite web

|first = Shubashree

|last = Desikan

|url = http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1423/14231280.htm

|title = THE Jain Commission : A political agenda

|work = Frontline

|date = 28 November 1997

|access-date = 19 January 2010

|archive-date = 7 November 2012

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121107014313/http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1423/14231280.htm

|url-status = dead

}}{{Cite journal| first = V.|last=Suresh| title =The DMK Debacle: Causes and Portents| journal = Economic and Political Weekly| volume = 27| issue = 42| pages = 2313–2321| date = 17 October 1992| jstor =4399030}}{{Cite book| last =Jain| first = Sumitra Kumar| title =Party politics and centre-state relations in India| year = 1994| pages =160|isbn=978-81-7017-309-0| publisher = Abhinav Publications| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=Gm9p_VPDZCgC&pg=PA160}}

The AIADMK which had contested and lost the 1989 elections as two different factions reunited under the leadership of Jayalalithaa in February 1989. The V. N. Janaki Ramachandran faction merged with the Jayalalithaa faction to form a single united party and Janaki retired from politics. The reunited party regained the popular "Two Leaves" symbol of the AIADMK. (The Election Commission of India had frozen the symbol for the 1989 elections due to the split). The united AIADMK was able to prove its strength immediately by winning the elections held for two constituencies -Marungapuri and Madurai East on 11 March 1989. (for these two constituencies elections had been postponed earlier due to technical reasons).The AIADMK then allied with the Congress for the 1989 Parliamentary elections. The AIADMK-Congress alliance won 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in that election routing the DMK-Janata Dal led National Front.{{Cite book| last =Ganesan| first = P. C.| title =Daughter of the South: biography of Jayalalitha| year = 1996| pages = 57|isbn=978-81-207-1879-1| publisher = Sterling Publishers| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=UsNuAAAAMAAJ&q=marungapuri+}}{{Cite book| title =The Journal of parliamentary information, Volume 35| year = 1996| pages = 228| publisher = Lok Sabha Secretariat| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=59ONAAAAMAAJ&q=1989+marungapuri}}

The 1991 elections was the first state elections contested by the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), S. Ramadoss, the leader of the Vanniyar caste organisation which demanded proportional reservation in education and employment based on population ratio of each community – the Vanniyar Sangam converted into a political party and entered electoral politics with the 1989 parliamentary elections. The emergence of PMK cut into the DMK's political base in the northern districts of Tamil Nadu.{{cite news| last= Dorairaj| first= S| title= Can PMK convert support base into votes in TN?| date= 7 April 2009| url= http://www.blonnet.com/2009/04/07/stories/2009040750080400.htm| work= Business Line|location=Chennai| access-date= 2010-01-18| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090412065848/http://www.blonnet.com/2009/04/07/stories/2009040750080400.htm| archive-date= 12 April 2009| url-status= dead}}

In 1991, the Thayaga Marumalarchi Kazhagam (TMK) was formed by the actor-politician Vijaya T. Rajendar after he split from the DMK. Later, some of the second rung leaders of the ADMK including Su. Thirunavukkarasar, K. K. S. S. R. Ramachandran, S. D. Ugamchand, V. Karuppasamy Pandian split from the party. For the 1991 elections they formed a pact with T. Rajendar and contested as TMK candidates.{{cite web

|first = T. S.

|last = Subramanian

|url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2220/stories/20051007003203900.htm

|title = Another actor in politics

|work = Frontline

|date = 7 October 2005

|access-date = 20 January 2010

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100709205659/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2220/stories/20051007003203900.htm

|archive-date = 9 July 2010

|url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

|first = T. S.

|last = Subramanian

|url = http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2115/stories/20040730003803600.htm

|title = The celluloid connection

|work = Frontline

|date = 30 July 2004

|access-date = 20 January 2010

|archive-date = 1 June 2009

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090601235031/http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2115/stories/20040730003803600.htm

|url-status = dead

}}{{cite web

| url = http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/Resumes/09assly/09_06.pdf

| title = Resume of Business, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, IX Assembly, VI Session (18–25 January 1991)

| work = Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat

| access-date = 20 January 2010

}}

{{main|Rajiv Gandhi assassination}}

On 21 May 1991, leader of the Indian National Congress and its prime ministerial candidate for the 1991 general elections was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber. The assassination took place at a campaign meeting at Sriperumpudur where he was campaigning for the Congress candidate Maragatham Chandrasekar.

The two main political formations in this election were the DMK and AIADMK led fronts. The DMK coalition comprised the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Janata Dal (JD) and Thayaga Marumalarchi Kazhagam (TMK). The AIADMK front had only two major parties – itself and the Congress. The AIADMK also backed the ICS (SCS) candidate Sanjay Ramasamy in the Virudhunagar constituency. Several smaller parties like the PMK contested the elections alone.

{{cite web

| last = Election Commission of India

| title = 1991 Election Statistical Report

| url = http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1991/StatisticalReport-Tamil%20Nadu91.pdf

| access-date = 19 April 2009

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101007161404/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1991/StatisticalReport-Tamil%20Nadu91.pdf

| archive-date = 7 October 2010}}{{cite web

|first = K. N.

|last = Arun

| url = http://newindianexpress.com/opinion/article131915.ece

| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130616125129/http://newindianexpress.com/opinion/article131915.ece

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 16 June 2013

| title = Integrity of judiciary put to test again

| work = The Indian Express

| date = 18 January 2009

| access-date = 20 January 2010

}}

The polling for the state assembly elections were held simultaneously with the polling for the 1991 Parliamentary elections on 15 June 1991. The voter turnout was 63.92%.{{cite web

| url = http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/electionstats/voterturnout/1991.html

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121005210034/http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/electionstats/voterturnout/1991.html

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 5 October 2012

| title = Polling Percentage – Statewise (1991)

| work = CNN-IBN

| access-date = 20 January 2010

}}{{cite web

|first =Suresh

|last = Nambath

| title = What does high turnout mean?

| url = http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/09/stories/2006050909770500.htm

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071023192832/http://www.hindu.com/2006/05/09/stories/2006050909770500.htm

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 23 October 2007

| work = The Hindu

| date = 9 May 2006

| access-date = 20 January 2010

}}

File:1991 tamil nadu legislative election map by parties.png

{{Election table|title=Summary of the May 1991 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election results}}

!colspan=10|File:India Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly 1991.svg

|-

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" |Alliance/Party

!style="width:4px" |

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seats won

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Change

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Popular Vote

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Vote %

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Adj. %^‡

|-

! style="background-color:#009900; color:white"|AIADMK+ alliance

! style="background-color: {{party color|AIADMK}}" |

| 225

| +172

| 14,738,042

| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"| 59.8%

|-

|AIADMK

! style="background-color: #008000" |

| 164

| +137

| 10,940,966

| 44.4%

| 61.1%

|-

|INC

! style="background-color: #00FFFF" |

| 60

| +34

| 3,743,859

| 15.2%

| 56.2%

|-

|ICS(SCS)^†

! style="background-color: #800000" |

| 1

| +1

| 53,217

| 0.2%

| 56.1%

|-

! style="background-color:#FF0000; color:white"|DMK+ alliance

! style="background-color: {{party color|DMK}}" |

| 7

| -164

| 7,405,935

| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"| 30.0%

|-

|DMK

! style="background-color: #FF0000" |

| 2

| −148

| 5,535,668

| 22.5%

| 29.9%

|-

|TMK

! style="background-color: #FF00FF" |

| 2

| −1

| 371,645

| 1.5%

| 31.0%

|-

|CPI(M)

! style="background-color: #000080" |

| 1

| −14

| 777,532

| 3.2%

| 31.2%

|-

|JD

! style="background-color: #FFFF00" |

| 1

| +1

| 415,947

| 1.7%

| 28.3%

|-

|CPI

! style="background-color: #0000FF" |

| 1

| −2

| 305,143

| 1.2%

| 29.9%

|-

! style="background-color:gray; color:white"|Others

! style="background-color:gray" |

| 2

| -8

| 2,505,431

| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;"| 10.2%

|-

|PMK

! style="background-color: #800080" |

| 1

| +1

| 1,452,982

| 5.9%

| 7.0%

|-

|JP

! style="background-color: " |

| 0

| −4

| 51,564

| 0.2%

| 0.7%

|-

|IND

! style="background-color: #666666" |

| 1

| −5

| 390,227

| 1.6%

| 1.7%

|-

| style="text-align:center;" |Total

! style="background-color: " |

| 234

| –

| 24,649,408

| 100%

| style="text-align:center;" | –

|-

|}{{refbegin}}

†: ICS(SCS) contested in 13 different constituencies, but only the one contested by Sanjay Ramaswamy was endorsed by AIADMK.
‡: Vote % reflects the percentage of votes the party received compared to the entire electorate that voted in this election. Adjusted (Adj.) Vote %, reflects the % of votes the party received per constituency that they contested.

Sources: Election Commission of India[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1991/StatisticalReport-Tamil%20Nadu91.pdf ECI: 1991 Election Statistical Report]

{{refend}}

The AIADMK coalition won a massive victory in this election capturing 225 of 234 seats. The DMK coalition was routed with only 7 victories. DMK itself could win only 2 seats including that of its leader M. Karunanidhi. Though Karunanidhi won from the Harbour constituency, he resigned his seat immediately. The victory of AIADMK-Congress has been attributed mainly to the sympathy wave following the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Other factors which helped their victory were the consolidation of the AIADMK votes under the unified AIADMK party, successful projection by Jayalalithaa as the true political heir to M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R), successful portrayal of DMK as anti-woman (by playing up the events in the Assembly on 25 March 1989) and the PMK cutting into the DMK's vote bank in the northern districts. This election saw the first electoral success of the PMK, when its candidate Panruti Ramachandran was elected from the Panruti constituency.{{cite web

| url = http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/disp_ind.asp?prof_id=51

| title = Member Profile : M. Karunanidhi

| work = Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat

| access-date = 20 January 2010

}}{{cite web

| url = http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?205451

| title = The Revenge of Draupadi

| work = Outlook

| date = 4 May 1998

| access-date = 20 January 2010

}}

• Elections in Tamil Nadu
• Legislature of Tamil Nadu
• Government of Tamil Nadu

{{Reflist}}

• [http://eci.gov.in/ Election Commission of India]

{{Tamil Nadu assembly elections|state=expanded}}

Category:State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu

Category:1990s in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Category:June 1991 in India