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Elections in Tamil Nadu

{{Short description|Overview of the procedure of elections in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu}}

{{Politics of Tamil Nadu}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}}

Elections in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are conducted every five years to elect members to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and members of parliament to the Lok Sabha. There are 234 assembly constituencies and 39 Lok Sabha constituencies. The state has conducted 16 assembly elections and 18 Lok Sabha elections since independence.

The governor of Tamil Nadu is the ceremonial head of the state. However, it is the chief minister of Tamil Nadu who is elected as the leader of the party or political alliance having a majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The chief minister will be the leader of the executive branch of the government of Tamil Nadu. The chief minister is the chief adviser to the governor of Tamil Nadu and the head of the state council of ministers.

Elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is responsible for monitoring and administering the elections for the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People) of the Parliament and the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The ECI appoints the chief electoral officer of Tamil Nadu, an I.A.S. officer who oversees state-level election matters.

The Tamil Nadu Election Commission is the state body of Tamil Nadu that is enacted under the provisions of the constitution and is responsible for monitoring and administering the elections for local government in Tamil Nadu. This body is responsible for ensuring elections are free and fair, without any bias.

Elections ensure the conduct of members pre-elections, during elections, and post-elections is as per statutory legislation.

The election commission handles all election-related disputes. If the laws enacted to deal with the given situation in conducting elections are silent or do not make adequate provisions, the Madras High Court has ruled that the Election Commission has residual powers to act appropriately under the constitution.

Types of elections

Elections in Tamil Nadu include elections for:

Rajya Sabha elections

Members of parliament in the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) from Tamil Nadu are not directly elected by being voted upon by all adult citizens of the state but by the members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Candidates who win the Rajya Sabha elections are called "Members of Parliament" and hold their seats for six years. The house meets in the Rajya Sabha Chamber of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi on matters relating to the creation of new laws or removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens of India. Elections take place to elect 18 members from Tamil Nadu.{{cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/rajya-sabha-election-2017-here-is-how-members-are-elected-to-upper-house-1734558|title=Rajya Sabha Election 2017: Here Is How Members Are Elected To Upper House|date=7 August 2017|work=The Hindu|access-date=15 April 2025|archive-date=19 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219125449/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/rajya-sabha-election-2017-here-is-how-members-are-elected-to-upper-house-1734558|url-status=live}}

Lok Sabha elections

Members of parliament in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from Tamil Nadu are directly elected by being voted upon by all adult citizens of the state from a set of candidates who stand in their respective constituencies. Every adult citizen of India can vote only in their constituency. Candidates who win the Lok Sabha elections are called "Members of Parliament" and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the president of India on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chamber of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi on matters relating to the creation of new laws or removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens of India. Elections take place once every five years to elect 39 members from Tamil Nadu.{{cite web|url=https://eci.gov.in/elections/term-of-houses/|title=Terms of the Houses|publisher=Election Commission of India|access-date=5 April 2021}}

{|class="wikitable"

|-

{{Scrolling table/mid}}

|+style="text-align:left;"|Lok Sabha election results

|File:1977 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1977)]]

|File:1980 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1980)]]

|File:1984 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1984)]]

|File:1989 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1989)]]

|File:1991 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1991)]]

|File:1996 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1996)]]

|File:1998 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1998)]]

|File:1999 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (1999)]]

|File:2004 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (2004)]]

|File:2009 tamil nadu lok sabha election map.png (2009)]]

|File:2014 Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha result by constituency.PNG (2014)]]

|File:2019 Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha result by constituency.svg (2019)]]

|File:2024 Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha election results.svg (2024)]]

{{Scrolling table/end}}

=History of Lok Sabha elections=

class="toccolours" style="width:75em"

!Colour key for parties

{{div col|colwidth=23em}}

{{legend|{{party color|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}|Bharatiya Janata Party|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Communist Party of India}}|Communist Party of India|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Communist Party of India (Marxist)}}|Communist Party of India (Marxist)|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Independent politician}}|Independent|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Indian National Congress}}|Indian National Congress|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Indian National Congress (Indira)}}|Indian National Congress (Indira)|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Indian National Congress (Organisation)}}|Indian National Congress (Organisation)|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Pattali Makkal Katchi}}|Pattali Makkal Katchi|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Swatantra Party}}|Swatantra Party|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)}}|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)|outline=#000000}}

{{div col end}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=14|LOK SABHA ELECTIONS

rowspan=2|Lok Sabha
{{small|(Election)}}

!rowspan=2|Total Seats

!colspan=4|First

!colspan=4|Second

!colspan=4|Third

colspan=2|Political party

!Seats

!Percentage of votes

!colspan=2|Political party

!Seats

!Percentage of votes

!colspan=2|Political party

!Seats

!Percentage of votes

1st
{{small|(1951)}}

|75

|Indian National Congress

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|35

|36.39%

|Independent

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Independent politician}}

|15

|23.15%

|Communist Party of India

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|8

|8.95%

2nd
{{small|(1957)}}

|41

|Indian National Congress

|31

|46.52%

|Independent

|8

|39.77%

|Communist Party of India

|2

|10.06%

3rd
{{small|(1962)}}

|41

|Indian National Congress

|31

|45.26%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|7

|18.64%

|Communist Party of India

|2

|10.24%

4th
{{small|(1967)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|25

|35.78%

|Swatantra Party

|{{party color cell|Swatantra Party}}

|6

|9.16%

|Communist Party of India (Marxist)

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India (Marxist)}}

|4

|6.85%

5th
{{small|(1971)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|23

|35.25%

|Indian National Congress

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|9

|12.51%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|4

|5.43%

6th
{{small|(1977)}}

|39

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|17

|30.04%

|Indian National Congress

|14

|22.27%

|Indian National Congress (Organisation)

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress (Organisation)}}

|3

|17.67%

7th
{{small|(1980)}}

|39

|Indian National Congress (Indira)

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress (Indira)}}

|20

|31.62%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|16

|23.01%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|2

|25.38%

8th
{{small|(1984)}}

|39

|Indian National Congress

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|25

|40.51%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|12

|18.36%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|2

|25.90%

9th
{{small|(1989)}}

|39

|Indian National Congress

|27

|39.86%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|11

|17.12%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|1

|2.04%

10th
{{small|(1991)}}

|39

|Indian National Congress

|28

|42.57%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|11

|18.10%

|Vacant

|style="background:white;"|

|–

|–

11th
{{small|(1996)}}

|39

|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)

|{{party color cell|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)}}

|20

|27.00%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|17

|25.63%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|2

|2.33%

12th
{{small|(1998)}}

|39

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|18

|25.89%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|5

|20.08%

|Pattali Makkal Katchi

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|Pattali Makkal Katchi}}

|4

|6.05%

13th
{{small|(1999)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|12

|23.13%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|10

|25.68%

|Pattali Makkal Katchi

|5

|8.21%

14th
{{small|(2004)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|16

|24.60%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|10

|14.40%

|Pattali Makkal Katchi

|5

|6.71%

15th
{{small|(2009)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|18

|25.09%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|9

|22.88%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|8

|15.03%

16th
{{small|(2014)}}

|39

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|37

|44.92%

|Bharatiya Janata Party

|{{party color cell|Bharatiya Janata Party}}

|1

|5.56%

|Pattali Makkal Katchi

|{{party color cell|Pattali Makkal Katchi}}

|1

|4.51%

17th
{{small|(2019)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|24

|33.52%

|Indian National Congress

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|8

|12.62%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|2

|2.40%

18th
{{small|(2024)}}

|39

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|22

|26.93%

|Indian National Congress

|9

|10.67%

|Communist Party of India (Marxist)

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India (Marxist)}}

|2

|2.52%

Legislative Assembly elections

Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly are directly elected by being voted upon by all adult citizens of the state from a set of candidates who stand in their respective constituencies. Every adult citizen of India can vote only in their constituency. Candidates who win the legislative assembly elections are called "Members of the Legislative Assembly" and hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the governor of Tamil Nadu on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the Assembly Chamber of the Chief Secretariat in Chennai on matters relating to the creation of new laws or removing or improving the existing laws that affect all citizens of Tamil Nadu. Elections take place once every five years to elect 234 members to the legislative assembly. The leader of the majority party or alliance takes oath as chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

{|class="wikitable"

|-

{{Scrolling table/mid}}

|+style="text-align:left;"|Legislative Assembly election results

|File:1977 tamil nadu legislative election map.png)]]

|File:1980 tamil nadu legislative election map.png)]]

|File:1984 tamil nadu legislative election map.png)]]

|File:1989 tamil nadu legislative election map.png)]]

|File:1991 tamil nadu legislative election map.png)]]

|File:1996 tamil nadu legislative election map.png)]]

|File:2001 tamil nadu legislative election map.png (2001)]]

|File:2006 tamil nadu legislative election map.jpg (2006)]]

|File:2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Election Map by Parties.svg (2011)]]

|File:Tamil Nadu assembly election 2016 results.png (2016)]]

|File:2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election result.png (2021)]]

{{Scrolling table/end}}

=History of Legislative Assembly elections=

class="toccolours" style="width:75em"

!Colour key for parties

{{div col|colwidth=23em}}

{{legend|{{party color|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Communist Party of India}}|Communist Party of India|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam}}|Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Independent politician}}|Independent|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Indian National Congress}}|Indian National Congress|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Indian National Congress (Indira)}}|Indian National Congress (Indira)|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Indian National Congress (Organisation)}}|Indian National Congress (Organisation)|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Swatantra Party}}|Swatantra Party|outline=#000000}}

{{legend|{{party color|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)}}|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)|outline=#000000}}

{{div col end}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!colspan=14|LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS

rowspan=2|Assembly
{{small|(Election)}}

!rowspan=2|Total Seats

!colspan=4|First

!colspan=4|Second

!colspan=4|Third

colspan=2|Political party

!Seats

!Percentage of votes

!colspan=2|Political party

!Seats

!Percentage of votes

!colspan=2|Political party

!Seats

!Percentage of votes

1st
{{small|(1952)}}

|375

|Indian National Congress

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|152

|34.88%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|62

|13.18%

|Independent

|{{party color cell|Independent politician}}

|62

|23.75%

2nd
{{small|(1957)}}

|205

|Indian National Congress

|151

|45.34%

|Independent

|{{party color cell|Independent politician}}

|48

|44.62%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|4

|7.40%

3rd
{{small|(1962)}}

|206

|Indian National Congress

|139

|46.14%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|50

|27.10%

|Swatantra Party

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Swatantra Party}}

|6

|7.82%

4th
{{small|(1967)}}

|234

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|137

|40.69%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|51

|41.10%

|Swatantra Party

|20

|5.30%

5th
{{small|(1971)}}

|234

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|184

|48.58%

|Indian National Congress (Organisation)

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress (Organisation)}}

|15

|34.99%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|8

|2.32%

6th
{{small|(1977)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=3 {{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|130

|30.36%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|48

|24.89%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|27

|17.50%

7th
{{small|(1980)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|129

|38.75%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|37

|22.10%

|Indian National Congress (Indira)

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress (Indira)}}

|31

|20.92%

8th
{{small|(1984)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|132

|37.03%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|61

|16.28%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|24

|29.34%

9th
{{small|(1989)}}

|234

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|150

|33.18%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|29

|21.77%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|26

|19.83%

10th
{{small|(1991)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|164

|44.39%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|60

|15.19%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|2

|22.46%

11th
{{small|(1996)}}

|234

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|173

|42.07%

|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)

|{{party color cell|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)}}

|39

|9.30%

|Communist Party of India

|{{party color cell|Communist Party of India}}

|8

|2.12%

12th
{{small|(2001)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|132

|31.44%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|31

|30.92%

|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)

|{{party color cell|Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)}}

|23

|6.73%

13th
{{small|(2006)}}

|234

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|96

|26.46%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|61

|32.64%

|Indian National Congress

|{{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|34

|8.38%

14th
{{small|(2011)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|150

|38.40%

|Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam}}

|29

|7.88%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|23

|22.39%

15th
{{small|(2016)}}

|234

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|136

|41.06%

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|89

|31.86%

|Indian National Congress

|rowspan=2 {{party color cell|Indian National Congress}}

|8

|6.42%

16th
{{small|(2021)}}

|234

|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|133

|37.70%

|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

|{{party color cell|All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam}}

|66

|33.29%

|Indian National Congress

|18

|4.27%

Bye-election

When an elected member of the Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, or Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly left their office vacant before their term ended, a bye-election was conducted to find a suitable replacement to fill the vacant position.

Common reasons for bye-elections:

  • Resignation of the sitting M.P. or an M.L.A.
  • Death of the sitting M.P. or an M.L.A.

There are also other reasons that occur when the incumbent is disqualified for being ineligible to continue in office (criminal conviction, failure to maintain a minimum level of attendance in the office due to election irregularities found later, or when a candidate wins more than one seat and has to vacate one).

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{commons category}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20161203074253/http://www.survey2016.in/ Tamilnadu Election Polls 2016]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20081218010942/http://www.eci.gov.in/StatisticalReports/ElectionStatistics.asp Election Commission of India]
  • [http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/ Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly]
  • [https://archive.today/20121208164546/http://www.indian-elections.com/assembly-elections/tamil-nadu/election-result-06.html Indian Elections]
  • [http://election.dinakaran.com Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2011]

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

{{Indian elections}}

{{Lok Sabha constituencies of Tamil Nadu}}

{{Assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu|state=collapsed}}

Category:Elections in Tamil Nadu