Secular Progressive Alliance, formerly known as Democratic Progressive Alliance, is an alliance of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n political parties formed by the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

(DMK).

History

The alliance was known as the ''Democratic Progressive Alliance'' 2006–2009 and 2014–2016. It became the ''Secular Progressive Alliance'' in 2021.

Withdrawals

The

Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...

parties defected to the

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mi ...

(AIADMK)-led front in 2009 after it withdrew support to the Congress-led

United Progressive Alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single pa ...

coalition in the Centre. The

Pattali Makkal Katchi Paattali Makkal Katchi (; PMK) is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India, founded by S. Ramadoss in 1989 for the Vanniyars, a caste in northern Tamil Nadu. It is currently part of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It contests ...

withdrew support in 2008 over differences with the DMK but it still remained in the Congress-led UPA in the Centre. But after differences of seat sharing before the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

, it withdrew support to the UPA also and crossed over to the AIADMK-led front. The

Manithaneya Makkal Katchi Manithaneya Makkal Katchi is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India. Its president is M. H. Jawahirullah. In 2009 election Manithaneya makkal Katchi contested in railway engine symbol.2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, the party jo ...

was formed in 2009 by the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazagham and immediately joined the DPA. But before the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

, its demand for two Lok Sabha seats and one

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

seat was turned down by the DMK who offered them a lone Lok Sabha seat. The MMK withdrew from the DPA and as of now tied up with small parties like actor

Sarath Kumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards S ...

-led Akila Indiya Samathuva Makkal Katchi, the Puthiya Tamilzhagam and the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

(BJP).

Members

16th Assembly of Tamil Nadu

Ministries

* Fifth Karunanidhi ministry (2006 - 2011) * M. K. Stalin ministry (2021- incumbent)

References

{{Reflist Political party alliances in India Political parties in Tamil Nadu 2006 establishments in Tamil Nadu Political parties established in 2006