Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK) is a caste based political party representing the Kongu Vellala Gounders, a backward caste in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state 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 ...

. The party's vote base is mainly concentrated in the

Kongu Nadu Kongu Nadu, also known as Kongu Mandalam, is the geographical region comprising the western and north-western part of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu and in some instances, parts of southeastern Karnataka a ...

region of Tamil Nadu.

Origins and platform

The party launched in the name of "Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai" but later its leaders adopted the already registered name of "Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam". It was launched in 2009 at

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

by the Kongu Vellala Goundergal Peravai, a

Gounder Gounder is a title used by various communities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It may refer to various communities such as Kongu Vellalar, Vettuva Gounder, Vettuva, Vanniyar, Kurumba Gounder, Kurumba, Thuluva Vellalar, :ta:Urali_Gounder, Urali, ...

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

organisation. Although the party was launched by a Gounder organisation, the party's founder Best Ramasamy dismissed that the party was only for the cause of Kongu Velala Gounders and said that his party will work for the cause of the western Tamil Nadu. The party also claims that it will work for development of the Kongu region.

2009 Lok Sabha election

The party contested in 12 constituencies independently (without alliance) in 2009 lokshaba elections and polled around 6 lakhs (600,000) votes in the Kongu region. Although the party was not able to win any seat still it was considered as a good show by political observers as the party was started only 4 months before the elections. The party mainly contributed for the defeat of all

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

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) alliance candidates in the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu. The party came third in many constituencies ahead of

Vijayakanth Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politi ...

's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.

2011 Assembly election

In the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, KMK joined hands with DMK and contested 7 seats. It lost in all the 7 seats and in local body elections, the party allied with 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. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP).BJP ties up with KMK for forthcoming polls
/ref>

Election history

References

External links