The fifth legislative assembly election of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

was held in March 1971, resulting in a re-election victory for the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

(DMK), which had first won under the leadership of

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 19093 February 1969), also known as Perarignar, was an Indian politician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He served as the fourth and last chi ...

in 1967. The main opposition was the

Indian National Congress (Organisation) The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Minist ...

led by

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the pr ...

, while the

Indian National Congress (Indira) The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

faction aligned with the DMK. This election marked the first victory for M. Karunanidhi as DMK leader, who assumed office as Chief Minister after Annadurai’s death. Karunanidhi, supported by

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

(MGR) in a leadership dispute with V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, secured his position with MGR and Vai. Balasundaram’s instrumental backing. This election also set a precedent in national politics, as the

—led by

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

—formed a coalition with the DMK. This agreement allowed the DMK to take all seats in the state legislature, while conceding half of Tamil Nadu's seats in the Lok Sabha to the Congress. With a 48.58% vote share and 184 seats, DMK achieved the largest single-party vote and seat count in Tamil Nadu's electoral history. This remains the only instance where a DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu retained power, as all subsequent DMK administrations have been succeeded by

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory ...

-led coalitions.

Background

The opposition party,

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

was heavily weakened due to a split that occurred in 1969. This led to the formation of

under

, which was the major opposition in this election, while the

, supported the

. Indira Gandhi continued as Prime Minister with the support of Communist parties and DMK which had 25 seats in the Lok Sabha. It was during this time, the long-awaited Salem steel mill was approved. The ruling Congress party decided to dissolve the Lok Sabha and conduct early elections to use the popularity from Bangladesh War victory. Then Chief minister of Tamil nadu M. Karunanidhi also decided to dissolve the state assembly and face the elections in alliance with Indira's Congress one year before the end of his term.

Parties and alliances

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) formed a seven-party alliance known as the Left and Democratic Front (Progressive Front). This coalition was led by the DMK and included the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

(CPI),

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded in 1952 when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the ...

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

, Muslim League, and M. P. Sivagnanam's Tamil National Party. The Congress party, reliant on DMK votes in the Lok Sabha for its survival, had no influence over seating arrangements. The Indira Congress contested in nine out of 39 parliamentary constituencies but did not participate in legislative assembly contests. Indira Gandhi directed the Tamil Nadu Congress leader, C. Subramaniam, to accept this arrangement, signaling a shift in the party's focus away from Tamil Nadu as a Congress stronghold. The opposition front was a coalition of Kamaraj led

(Congress (O)), Rajaji's Swatantara Party, Samyukta Socialist Party, the Tamil Nadu Toilers' Party, the Republican Party and the Coimbatore District Agriculturist Association.

Seat Allotment

DMK Front

INC(O) Front

Karunanidhi's Cabinet

The council of ministers in M. Karunanidhi's cabinet (in 1971).

Voting and results

Results

Source: Election Commission of India

By constituency

Notes

Footnotes

External links

Election Commission of India
{{Tamil Nadu assembly elections, state=expanded State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu 1970s in Tamil Nadu