The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; MDMK) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

active 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 ...

. It was established by

Vaiko Vaiko, birth name Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy (born 22 May 1944), is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India from Tamil Nadu. He is the founder and General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Drav ...

in 1994 after he left 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 ...

. The headquarters of the party is called Thayagam, which is located at Rukmini Lakshmipathi Salai,

Egmore Egmore is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Situated on the northern banks of the Coovum River, Egmore is an important residential area as well as a commercial and transportation hub. The Egmore Railway Station was the main terminus of the ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

History

Formation

Vaiko was a member of Rajya Sabha and a party activist of

(DMK). Vaiko was a member of the party from his initial student days and actively participated in the party agitations and courted imprisonment several times. He was elected thrice to the Rajya Sabha. In 1994, he was forced out of the parent body as he was seen as a threat to DMK chief

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018), also known as Kalaignar (Artist), was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He had the ...

's son, M.K. Stalin.

along with some district secretaries announced the decision to start a rival party, which became the MDMK.

Support for Sri Lankan Tamils

Vaiko voiced support for Tamils during the Sri Lankan Civil War, including for the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

specifically and their goal of secession from Sri Lanka.

Support for the Mullaperiyar Dam

The Government of Kerala was keen to demolish the

Mullaperiyar Dam Mullaperiyar Dam () is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River of Idukki district of Indian state of Kerala. It is situated 150 km south east of Kochi and 200 km north east of state capital city of Trivandrum. It is located above the sea ...

because of safety concerns. However, the dam's reservoir is a prime source for irrigation for more than 8 districts including

Theni Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of the Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, 70km from Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in th ...

. As a result, Vaiko led an agitation against the Kerala government.

Split in MDMK

With the looming possibility of a vote of confidence in Parliament against the UPA, two party MPs, L. Ganesan and Gingee N. Ramachandran, claimed that they enjoyed the support of the majority of party cadre and decided to pledge support to the UPA government. They later withdrew their claim and joined DMK when it was found that they had forged letters of support of party executives.

Boycott of Assembly Election 2011

Due to issues in seat sharing, MDMK quit the ADMK Alliance and boycotted the 2011 Assembly elections of

and Puducherry.

Sanchi Protest

The MDMK protested the Sri Lankan President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

's visit to

Sanchi Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

in September 2012.

and his party members traveled to Sanchi. People who traveled through roadways were stopped by the police near

Gadchiroli Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as ...

. Some party members tried to reach the spot by rail and air but they were detained by police before reaching

MDMK snap ties with NDA

The MDMK left the BJP-led

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

in December 2014, accusing the BJP of acting against Tamil interests. This came after heavy criticism of the party from BJP lawmaker

Subramanian Swamy Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu ...

Party flag and symbol

The election symbol is a match box. The colour of the party flag's top and bottom panel is red and middle panel is black. The party has a weekly journal called ''Sangoli'' which carries news and write ups for party workers. In 2024 Parliament Election, the eci allotted Matchbox with stick symbol for contesting in Trichy.

Election history

Tamil Nadu

List of Union Ministers

References

External links

Official Website of the party

MDMK profile listed in Library of congress
{{Indian political parties Dravidian political parties Political parties established in 1994 Political parties in Tamil Nadu 1994 establishments in Tamil Nadu Member parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance