AIADMK

Not to be confused with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Abbreviation	AIADMK
General Secretary	Edappadi K. Palaniswami (Interim)
Parliamentary Chairperson	M. Thambidurai
Rajya Sabha leader	M. Thambidurai
Founder	M. G. Ramachandran
Founded	17 October 1972 (1972-10-17)
Split from	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Headquarters	Amma Anbu Maaligai 226, Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Royapettah, Chennai–600014, Tamil Nadu, India
Newspaper	Namadhu Puratchi Thalavi Amma (Daily journal) News J (TV channel)
Student wing	AIADMK Maanavarani
Youth wing	M.G.R. Ilaignarani
Women's wing	AIADMK Magalirani
Labour wing	Anna Thozhir Sangam
Ideology	Democratic socialism Populism Federalism
Colours	Green
ECI Status	State Party
Alliance	National Democratic Alliance (2019–Present)
Seats in Lok Sabha	1 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha	6 / 245
Seats in State Legislative Assemblies	Indian states 66 / 234 (Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly)
Number of states and union territories in government	0 / 31
Election symbol
Website
AIADMK
Politics of India Political parties Elections

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (transl. All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation; abbr. AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party which has a major influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and union territory of Puducherry. It is currently the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and part of the National Democratic Alliance. AIADMK is a dravidian party founded by M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) at Madurai on 17 October 1972 as a breakaway faction from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after M. Karunanidhi expelled him from the party for asking for accounts as party treasurer. The party is adhering to the socio-democratic and social justice principles based of C. N. Annadurai collectively coined as Annaism by MGR.

From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2016, AIADMK was led by J. Jayalalithaa, who served 3 times as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on several occasions. The party has won majorities in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly seven times, making it the most successful political outfit in the state's history. J. Jayalalithaa was known as the "Mother of AIADMK" and was highly popular among the Tamil populace until her death in 2016 .

The headquarters of the party is called Amma Anbu Maaligai, which is located at Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Royapettah, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The erstwhile Llyods road building was donated to the party in 1986 by V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, M.G.R's wife.

Ideology and policies

The AIADMK sought to depoliticize the education policy of the government by not insisting that education be the Tamil language. Policies of AIADMK were targeted to the poorer segments of Tamil society – poor, rickshaw pullers, and destitute women and centralizing the massive noon meal scheme for children. There was ambivalence toward the reservation policy and interests of farmers.

The AIADMK posted an array of welfare schemes targeting the human development index of the state. AIADMK has schemes listed in the election manifestos covering segments of the population including fishermen, farmers, and school children. Till the 2000s, the parties had welfare schemes like maternity assistance, subsidized public transport, and educational grants. After the 2000s, the parties started competing at an increasing level for the distribution of consumer goods. The AIADMK government distributed free cycles to class 11 and class 12 students during its tenure of 2001–06. The DMK, in competition, promised free color televisions in its manifesto in 2006 assembly elections. The competition continued during the 2011 assembly elections when both parties announced free laptops for schools students and grinders mixers and fans for public.

Culture

• The party remains firm on its support for the "two language policy", in opposition to centre demands to have Hindi as the sole lingua franca language, where Tamil and English are the two main languages of Tamil Nadu.
• The party provides Rs. 1 lakh for temples of local deities in 2016.

Economy

In the spring of 2019, the party lauded the economic policies of the Modi government (BJP), stating that the centre had ushered in economic stability and made the country a "decisive player" in regional economics, and voiced support for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which had been opposed by their rival the DMK.

Environment and nature

• The AIADMK was one of two parties, along with BJP, not to voice opposition against a ban of cattle slaughter through the national Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. It has however sought an exemption in the Act over traditional bull fighting; the party supports popular opinion in Tamil Nadu that traditional bull fighting, known as Jallikattu, should not be banned by the centre due to a ruling by the APEX court against animal cruelty. During the controversy, both major parties of the state called for animal-rights organisation PETA to be banned.
• AIADMK opposes the building of the Cauvery Dam which could reduce water flows into Tamil Nadu and negatively affect quality-of-live for residents and agriculture.

History

M. G. Ramachandran era (17 October 1972 – 24 December 1987)

M. G. Ramachandran, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

The party was founded in 1972 as Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) by M. G. Ramachandran, a veteran Tamil film star and popular politician. It was set up as a breakaway faction of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by M. Karunanidhi, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, owing to personal differences between the two. Later, M.G.R prefixed the All India (AI) tag to the party's name to save himself from IT raids and protect the party during MISA (Emergency). Since its inception, the relationship between the AIADMK and DMK has been marked by mutual contempt. M.G.R used his fan network to build the party cadre with claims his party recruited more than a million members in the first two months. C. N. Annadurai's ideologue and movie mogul R. M. Veerappan was the key architect in unifying the M.G.R fan clubs and further consolidating the party structure in the 70s. Other key leaders such as Nanjil K. Manoharan and S. D. Somasundaram played major roles in consolidation. The party's first victories were the Dindigul parliamentary by-election in 1973 and the Coimbatore West assembly bye-election a year later. On 2 April 1973, AIADMK emerged as the third largest political party in Tamil Nadu, represented by 11 MLAs in the assembly. By 31 January 1976, AIADMK emerged as the second largest political party in Tamil Nadu with 16 MLAs in the assembly. AIADMK grew close to the Congress Party by supporting the National Emergency between 1975 and 1977.

The DMK-led government was dismissed by a Central promulgation on corruption charges in 1976. The AIADMK swept to power in 1977, defeating the DMK in the assembly elections. M.G.R was sworn in as the 3rd Chief Minister of the Tamil Nadu on 30 June 1977. M.G.R remained in power until his death on 24 December 1987, winning consecutive assembly elections held in 1977, 1980 and 1984. In 1979, AIADMK became the first Dravidian and regional party to be part of the Union Cabinet, when two AIADMK MP's, Sathyavani Muthu and Aravinda Bala Pajanor, joined the short-lived Chaudhary Charan Singh Ministry which followed the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party government (1977–1979).

Relations between the Congress and the AIADMK slowly became strained. In the mid-term parliamentary elections of January 1980, the Congress aligned with the DMK and the alliance won 37 out of the 39 state parliamentary seats. The AIADMK won just two seats. After returning to power, the new prime minister, Indira Gandhi, dismissed a number of state governments belonging to the opposition parties, including the AIADMK government.

Elections to the state assembly were held in late May 1980 with the opposition DMK continuing the electoral alliance with the Congress. In a massive reversal of fortunes following the Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK won a comfortable majority in the state assembly with 129 of 234 seat. MGR was sworn in as chief minister for the second time on 9 June 1980.

In 1984, even with M.G.R's failing health and hospitalization, the party won the assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. Many political historians consider M.G.R's persona and charisma at this point of time as "infallible", and a logical continuation of his on-screen "good lad" image, strengthened by his "mythical status" in the minds of the masses. M.G.R continued to enjoy popular support in his third tenure until his death on 24 December 1987.

Succession crisis (25 December 1987 – 6 February 1989)

Following M.G.R's death, his wife, actress-turned-politician V. N. Janaki Ramachandran, rose to the party's leadership under support of R. M. Veerappan and 98 MLAs. She led the government for 23 days as the state's 1st woman chief minister from 7 January 1988 until the state assembly was suspended on 30 January 1988 and President's rule imposed. The party began to crumble due to infighting and broke into two factions, one under V. N. Janaki Ramachandran and the other under J. Jayalalithaa, an associate of MGR and another film actress-turned-politician who had starred with MGR. The 1989 assembly election saw the DMK regain power after 12 years in the opposition with M. Karunanidhi returning as the Chief Minister for the third time. AIADMK, due to its split, suffered heavily in the elections, with the Janaki and Jayalalithaa factions winning only 2 and 27 seats respectively. Following AIADMK's rout in the elections, the factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki merged under the former's leadership. The DMK government was dismissed in 1991 by the Central Government led by Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, an ally of the AIADMK at that time, on charges that the constitutional machinery in the state had broken down.

J. Jayalalithaa era (9 February 1989 – 5 December 2016)

The AIADMK allied with the Congress and swept to power in the 1991 assembly election under the leadership of J. Jayalalithaa who became the second female chief minister and the 5th chief minister of the state. Political observers have ascribed the landslide victory to the anti-incumbent wave arising out of the assassination of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by suspected Tamil separatists fighting for a homeland in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The ensuing government, was accused of large-scale corruption, but Jayalalithaa held on to power for a full term of five years. In the 1996 assembly election, AIADMK continued its alliance with the Congress but suffered a massive rout, winning only four out of the 234 assembly seats, with even Jayalalithaa losing from Bargur.

J. Jayalalithaa, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

The AIADMK formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vaiko's Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), another breakaway faction of the DMK, during the parliamentary elections in 1998. AIADMK shared power with the BJP in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee headed government between 1998 and 1999, but withdrew support in early 1999, leading to the fall of the BJP government. Following this, the AIADMK once again allied with the Congress.

In the 2001 assembly election, the AIADMK-led alliance, consisting of the Congress, the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), the Left Front and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), regained power, winning 197 seats, with AIADMK winning 132. Due to the proceedings in a disproportionate assets case which occurred in her previous tenure, Jayalalithaa was prevented from holding office. O. Panneerselvam, a close confidant of Jayalalithaa was appointed as the Chief Minister for the second time on 21 September 2001. Once the Supreme Court overturned Jayalalithaa's conviction and sentence in the case, O Panneerselvam resigned on 2 March 2002, and Jayalalithaa was again sworn in as Chief Minister for the third time.

Unlike her first term, her second term was not marred by corruption scandals. She took many popular decisions such as banning of lottery tickets, restricting the liquor and sand quarrying business to government agencies and banning tobacco product sales near schools and colleges. She encouraged women to join the state police force by setting up all women-police stations and commissioning 150 women into the elite level police commandos in 2003, a first in India. The women had the same training as men and included handling weapons, detection and disposal of bombs, driving, horseriding, and adventure sports. She sent a special task force to the Sathyamangalam forests in October 2004 to hunt down notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. The operation was successful as Veerappan was finally killed by the task force on 18 October 2004.

However, despite the popular measures taken by the government, in the 2004 Lok Sabha election, the party, in alliance with the BJP again, was humiliated, winning none of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state. The Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), a DMK-led alliance consisting of all the major opposition parties in the state, swept the election.

Later, in the 2006 assembly election, in spite of media speculations of a hung assembly, the AIADMK, contesting with only the support of MDMK and a few other smaller parties, won 61 seats compared to the DMK's 96 and was pushed out of power by the DMK-led congressional alliance of the PMK and the Left Front. The AIADMK's electoral reversals continued in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. However, the party's performance was better than its debacle in 2004, and it managed to win nine seats.

Swearing-in Ceremony of the Council of Ministers headed by Jayalalithaa on 16 May 2011

Following widespread corruption and allegations of nepotism against the DMK government, in the 2011 assembly election, the party, in alliance with parties like the left and actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), swept the polls, winning 202 seats, with the AIADMK winning 150. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister for the fourth time.

In the Union territory of Puducherry, the AIADMK allied with N. Rangaswamy's All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) and won the 2011 assembly election, which was held in parallel with the Tamil Nadu assembly election. However, it did not join the newly elected AINRC-led government. The AIADMK's good electoral performance continued in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Contesting without allies, the AIADMK won an unprecedented 37 out of 39 seats in the state of Tamil Nadu, emerged as the third-largest party in parliament.

On 27 September 2014, Jayalalithaa was convicted in the Disproportionate assets case by a Special Court along with her associates Sasikala Natarajan, Ilavarasi and V. N. Sudhakaran, and sentenced to four-year simple imprisonment. Jayalalithaa was also fined ₹100 crores and her associates were fined ₹10 crore each. The case had political implications as it was the first case where a ruling chief minister had to step down on account of a court sentence.

Due to her resignation O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as Chief Minister on 29 September 2014. Jayalalithaa was denied bail by the High Court and moved the Supreme Court for bail. The Supreme Court granted bail on 17 October 2014. On 11 May 2015, the high court of Karnataka said she was acquitted from that case, and was again sworn in as Chief Minister for the fifth time.

In the 2016 assembly election contesting without allies, the AIADMK swept the polls, winning 135 out of 234 seats. On 23 May 2016, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister for the sixth time.

On 22 September 2016, she was admitted to Apollo Hospital, Chennai due to fever and dehydration. After a prolonged illness, she died on 5 December 2016.

Expansion beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

Under Jayalalithaa's regime, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam spread beyond Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. State units are established in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. The party floated 29 candidates across the state of Kerala in the 2006 assembly election and had contested on its own.

In Karnataka, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had members in the state assembly until 2004 and has influence in the Tamil-speaking areas of Bangalore and Kolar. The party has a following in places like National Capital Territory of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in India and also in countries where Tamil people are present.

V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran era (16 December 2016 – 20 August 2017)

After her death on 5 December 2016, Jayalalithaa's long-time friend V. K. Sasikala was selected unanimously as the General Secretary of the party on 16 December 2016. On February 5, 2017, she was selected as the leader of the legislative assembly as chief minister. O. Panneerselvam rebelled against V. K. Sasikala and reported that he had been compelled to resign as Chief Minister, bringing in a new twist to Tamil Nadu Politics. Due to a conviction in Disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa, V.K.Sasikala was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment in the Bengaluru Central Prison. Before that, she appointed Edappadi K. Palaniswami as legislative party leader (Chief Minister).

She also appointed her nephew and former Treasurer of the party Mr. T. T. V. Dhinakaran as the deputy general secretary of AIADMK party. With the support of 123 MLAs, Edappadi K. Palaniswami became chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

On 23 March 2017, the election commission of India gave separate party symbols to the two factions; O. Panneerselvam's faction known as AIADMK (PURATCHI THALAIVI AMMA), while Edappadi K. Palaniswami's faction known as AIADMK (AMMA).

By-polls were announced at the RK Nagar constituency which was vacated due to Jayalalithaa's death. But, the election commission canceled the by-polls after evidence of large-scale bribing by the ruling AIADMK (AMMA) surfaced. On 17 April 2017, Delhi police registered a case against Dhinakaran who was also the candidate for AIADMK (AMMA) for the by-poll at RK Nagar regarding an allegation of attempting to bribe the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the AIADMK's election symbol. However the Tis Hazari Special Court granted him bail on the grounds that the police failed to identify the public official allegedly bribed. T.T.V. Dhinakaran started his party work on 5 August 2017. However, the chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had a fallout with Dhinakaran and announced that the appointment of T.T.V. Dinakaran as deputy general secretary was invalid. So T.T.V. Dhinakaran claims that's " We are the real AIADMK and 95% of its cadres are with us ".

Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam era (21 August 2017 – 6 May 2021)

Edappadi K. Palaniswami (left) & O. Panneerselvam (right), Former Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu

On 21 August 2017, both EPS and OPS factions of the AIADMK merged and O. Panneerselvam was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister, Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu and the convener of AIADMK. He also holds portfolios of Housing, Rural Housing, Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control, Town Planning, Urban Development, and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam was elected Leader of the House in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

A day after the merger of two AIADMK factions, 19 MLAs owing allegiance to ousted deputy general secretary T. T. V. Dhinakaran on 22 April 2017 submitted letters to Governor, expressing lack of confidence in Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and withdrawing support from the government. 18 out of those 19 MLAs were disqualified from Office by the Speaker of Legislature upon recommendation from AIADMK Chief Whip. After a prolonged legal battle, the Speaker's orders were upheld by the High Court of Chennai and by-elections were alongside the Parliament general elections. The election commission of India on 23 November 2017 granted the two leaves symbol to the EPS and OPS camp.

Legal Fight for the party by V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran (24 November 2017 – 6 May 2021)

After that V. K. Sasikala and T. T. V. Dhinakaran had appealed to the Delhi High Court and they rejected their appeal and said that EPS and OPS camp are original AIADMK.

After that T. T. V. Dhinakaran had also appealed to the Supreme Court of India on March 15, the bench of Chief Justice of India has also rejected his appeal against the judgement made by Delhi High Court in favour of EPS and OPS camp.

Criticism

Being a popular actor, MGR's fan clubs became a source for electoral mobilization. The head of his fan club, R. M. Veerappan, became a lieutenant, and fellow actress J. Jayalalithaa was groomed as a possible heir apparent. There was a near administrative collapse during MGR's rule, and the state's rank in industrial production dropped from 3rd in the nation in 1977 to 13th position in 1987. Populist schemes that consumed two-thirds of the state's budget resulted in long-term economic costs. MGR was running a centralized administration which caused a severe toll on the state administration during his extended period of illness.

Personality cult

Jayalalithaa was also accused of creating a personality cult, with fans and party activists calling her 'Amma' ('mother' in Tamil). Her face adorned food canteens, pharmacies, salt packets, laptop computers, baby care kits, bottled water, medicine shops and cement bags. Following her imprisonment on 27 September 2014, her supporters held protests and wept openly. Her replacement, the party's former minister O. Panneerselvam, also wept during his inauguration, with colleagues saying they were in mourning. Due to the centralized leadership of Jayalalithaa, the state of Tamil Nadu experienced policy paralysis, with most legislators and party cadres protesting against her conviction with hunger fasts, road and rail blockades. The entire Cabinet would fall in line and bow in front of the helicopter in which it was flying. Members of the party, at all levels never found it difficult to prostrate before her in full view of the public. Even after her death, the AIADMK leaders continued to prostrate themselves before her burial ground.

Debt crisis

The overall debt burden of Tamil Nadu is expected to reach more than ₹ 5 lakh crore by March 31, 2022 during the AIADMK government. Under Jayalalithaa and the AIADMK tenure, the State debt as percentage of GSDP was about 5% increase in 2011. It was 16.92% in 2011–12. It was 21.83% as of April 2021 during the K. Eddapadi's government. The opposition criticized the financial mismanagement by the AIADMK who left a ₹ 62,000 per head for each person of the state. The opposition criticized that the entire debt of the state government in the 2006–11 DMK regime was only Rs 44,000 crore, but the AIADMK regime has made a debt of ₹ 3.55 lakh crore. The overall debt the AIADMK government left behind as of March 31, 2021 is estimated to be ₹ 4,85,502.54 crore and as on March 31, 2022, it is estimated to be ₹ 5,70,189.29 crore.

Electoral performance

Indian general elections

Vote share in consecutive Lok Sabha elections
2019			1.28%
2014			3.27%
2009			1.67%
2004			2.19%
1999			1.93%
1998			1.83%
1996			0.64%
1991			1.62%
1989			1.50%
1984			1.69%
1980			2.36%
1977			2.90%

Lok Sabha Elections

Election Year	Party leader	Seats contested	Seats won	Change in seats	Percentage of votes	Vote swing	Popular vote	Result
1977 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	21	18 / 542	18	2.90%		5,480,378	Government
1980 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	24	2 / 542	16	2.36%	0.54%	4,674,064	Opposition
1984 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	12	12 / 533	10	1.69%	0.67	3,968,967	Government
1989 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	11	11 / 545	1	1.50%	0.19	4,518,649	Opposition
1991 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	11	11 / 545	No Changes	1.62%	0.12	4,470,542	Government
1996 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	10	0 / 545	11	0.64%	0.98	2,130,286	Lost
1998 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	23	18 / 545	18	1.83%	1.19%	6,731,550	Government
1999 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	29	10 / 545	8	1.93%	0.10	7,046,953	Opposition
2004 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	33	0 / 543	10	2.19%	0.26	8,547,014	Lost
2009 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	23	9 / 543	9	1.67%	0.52	6,953,591	Others
2014 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	40	37 / 543	28	3.27%	1.60%	18,111,579	Others
2019 Election	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	21	1 / 543	36	1.28%	1.99%	7,830,146	Government

State legislative assembly elections

Vote share in consecutive Tamil Nadu Assembly elections
2021			33.29%
2016			40.77%
2011			38.40%
2006			32.64%
2001			31.44%
1996			21.47%
1991			44.39%
1989			21.77%
1984			37.03%
1980			38.75%
1977			30.36%

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Elections

Election Year	Party leader	Seats contested	Seats won	Change in seats	Percentage of votes	Vote swing	Popular vote	Result
1977 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	200	130 / 234	130	30.36%		5,194,876	Government
1980 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	177	129 / 234	1	38.75%	8.39%	7,303,010	Government
1984 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	155	132 / 234	3	37.03%	1.72%	8,030,809	Government
1989 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	202	29 / 234	103	21.77%	15.26%	5,247,317	Opposition
1991 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	168	164 / 234	135	44.39%	22.62%	10,940,966	Government
1996 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	168	4 / 234	160	21.47%	22.92%	5,831,383	Others
2001 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	141	132 / 234	128	31.44%	9.97%	8,815,387	Government
2006 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	188	61 / 234	71	32.64%	1.20%	10,768,559	Opposition
2011 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	165	150 / 234	89	38.40%	5.76%	14,150,289	Government
2016 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	234	136 / 234	14	40.77%	2.37%	17,616,266	Government
2021 Election	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	191	66 / 234	70	33.29%	7.48%	15,390,974	Opposition

Vote share in consecutive Puducherry Assembly elections
2021			4.14%
2016			16.82%
2011			13.75%
2006			16.04%
2001			12.56%
1996			12.53%
1991			17.34%
1990			18.17%
1985			15.75%
1980			18.60%
1977			30.96%
1974			27.83%

Puducherry Legislative Assembly Elections

Election Year	Party leader	Seats contested	Seats won	Change in seats	Percentage of votes	Vote swing	Popular vote	Result
1974 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	21	12 / 30	12	27.83%		60,812	Government
1977 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	27	14 / 30	2	30.96%	3.13%	69,873	Government
1980 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	18	0 / 30	14	18.60%	12.36%	45,623	Lost
1985 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	10	6 / 30	6	15.75%	2.85%	47,521	Government
1990 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	13	3 / 30	3	18.17%	2.42%	76,337	Opposition
1991 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	10	6 / 30	3	17.34%	0.83%	67,792	Government
1996 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	10	3 / 30	3	12.53%	4.81%	57,678	Opposition
2001 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	20	3 / 30	No Changes	12.56%	0.03%	59,926	Government
2006 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	18	3 / 30	No Changes	16.04%	3.48%	90,699	Opposition
2011 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	10	5 / 30	2	13.75%	2.29%	95,960	Government
2016 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	30	4 / 30	1	16.82%	3.07%	134,597	Opposition
2021 Election	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	5	0 / 30	4	4.14%	12.68%	34,623	Lost

Vote share in consecutive Karnataka Assembly elections
2018			0.01%
2013			0.03%
2008			0.03%
2004			0.07%
1999			0.18%
1994			0.24%
1989			0.18%
1983			0.13%
1978			0.18%

Karnataka Legislative Assembly Elections

Election Year	Party leader	Seats contested	Seats won	Change in seats	Percentage of votes	Vote swing	Popular vote	Result
1978 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	7	0 / 224	No Changes	0.18%		22,310	Lost
1983 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	1	1 / 224	1	0.13%	0.05%	16,234	Government
1989 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	1	1 / 224	No Changes	0.18%	0.05%	32,928	Government
1994 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	4	1 / 224	No Changes	0.24%	0.06%	50,696	Opposition
1999 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	13	1 / 224	No Changes	0.18%	0.06%	39,865	Government
2004 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	2	0 / 224	1	0.07%	0.11%	16,737	Lost
2008 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	7	0 / 224	No Changes	0.03%	0.04%	9,088	Lost
2013 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	5	0 / 224	No Changes	0.03%	No Changes	10,280	Lost
2018 Election	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	3	0 / 224	No Changes	0.01%	0.02%	2,072	Lost

Vote share in consecutive Kerala Assembly elections
2021			0.05%
2016			0.17%
2011			0.01%
2006			0.12%
1980			0.00%
1977			0.02%

Kerala Legislative Assembly Elections

Election Year	Party leader	Seats contested	Seats won	Change in seats	Percentage of votes	Vote swing	Popular vote	Result
1977 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	2	0 / 140	No Changes	0.02%		2,114	Lost
1980 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	1	0 / 140	No Changes	0.00%	0.02%	224	Lost
2006 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	29	0 / 140	No Changes	0.12%	0.12%	19,078	Lost
2011 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	4	0 / 140	No Changes	0.01%	0.11%	2,448	Lost
2016 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	7	0 / 140	No Changes	0.17%	0.16%	33,440	Lost
2021 Election	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	1	0 / 140	No Changes	0.05%	0.12%	10,376	Lost

Vote share in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections
1999			0.02%
1994			0.05%
1978			0.19%

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections

Election Year	Party leader	Seats contested	Seats won	Change in seats	Percentage of votes	Vote swing	Popular vote	Result
1978 Election	M. G. Ramachandran	9	0 / 294	No Changes	0.19%		38,691	Lost
1994 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	2	0 / 294	No Changes	0.05%	0.14%	14,251	Lost
1999 Election	J. Jayalalithaa	5	0 / 294	No Changes	0.02%	0.03%	7,281	Lost

Leaders in legislature

S.No	Member	Position in government
1.	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	Leader of the Opposition
2.	O. Panneerselvam	Deputy Leader of the Opposition
3.	S. P. Velumani	Chief Whip
4.	S. Ravi	Deputy Whip

Prominent members

S.No	Member	Position in government	Party position
1	O. Panneerselvam	Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Coordinator and Treasurer
2	Edappadi K. Palaniswami	Leader of the Opposition	Joint Coordinator and Headquarters Secretary
3.	K. P. Munusamy	MLA, Former Minister	Deputy Coordinator
4.	R. Vaithilingam	MLA, Former Minister	Deputy Coordinator
5.	Vacant		Presidium Chairman

11–member steering committee

S.No	Member	Position in government	Party position
1	Dindigul C. Sreenivasan	MLA, Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
2	S. P. Velumani	MLA, Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
3	P. Thangamani	MLA, Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
4	D. Jayakumar	Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
5	C. V. Shanmugam	Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
6	R. Kamaraj	MLA, Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
7	J. C. D. Prabhakar	Former MLA	Organizing Secretary, Spokesperson
8	P. H. Manoj Pandian	MLA	Organizing Secretary
9	P. Mohan	Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
10	R. Gopalakrishnan	Former MP	Electoral Division Joint Secretary
11	K. Manickam	Former MLA	–

Other senior leaders

S.No	Member	Position in government	Party position
1	K. A. Sengottaiyan	MLA, Former Minister	Organizing Secretary, Former Presidium Chairman
2	B. Valarmathi	Former Minister	AIADMK Literature Wing Secretary
3	Panruti S. Ramachandran	Former Minister	Organizing Secretary
4	C. Ponnaiyan	Former Minister	Founding member of AIADMK, Organizing Secretary
5	M. Thambidurai	Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Former Union Minister, Former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker	Propaganda Secretary
6	P. Dhanapal	MLA, Former Speaker	–
7	S. R. Balasubramaniam	Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha	–
7	Vindhya	–	Deputy Propaganda Secretary

Puducherry unit

S.No	Member	Position in government	Party position
1	A. Anbazhagan	Former MLA	State Secretary (East)
2	Om Sakthi Sekar	Former MLA	-
3	N. Gokulakrishnan	Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha	-

Karnataka unit

S.No	Member	Party Position
1	S.D.Kumar	State Secretary

Kerala unit

S.No	Member	Party Position
1	Shobakumar	State Secretary

List of general secretaries of the party

S.No	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Tenure
1		M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987)	17 October 1972 – 22 June 1978 17 October 1986 – 24 December 1987
2		V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920–2000)	23 June 1978 – 13 January 1979 (Acting) 14 January 1979 – 10 June 1980 25 December 1987 – 8 February 1989
3		P. U. Shanmugam (1924–2007)	11 June 1980 – 13 March 1985
4		S. Raghavanandam	14 March 1985 – 16 October 1986
5		J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016)	9 February 1989 – 5 December 2016
6		V. K. Sasikala (1954–)	29 December 2016 – 12 September 2017 (Interim) (The Party's General Council sacked V.K.Sasikala as party's interim General Secretary. The party’s General Council decided that there will be no general secretary any longer and that late chief minister J. Jayalalithaa will remain the ‘eternal General Secretary' of the party. Since then, the post remains vacant and new posts of Coordinator and Joint-Coordinator were created to lead the party)

List of Presidium Chairmen of the party

S.No	Name (birth–death)	Tenure
1	E.V.A. Vallimuthu	No info on tenure
2	V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920–2000)	No info on tenure
3	Pulamaipithan (1935-)	No info on tenure
4	C. Ponnaiyan (1942-)	2001 - 2006
5	K. Kalimuthu (1942-2006)	Mar 2006 - Nov 2006
6	E. Madhusudhnan (1942-2021)	2007 - 2017
7	K. A. Sengottaiyan (1948-)	Feb 2017 - Aug 2017
8	E. Madhusudhnan (1942-2021)	2017 - 2021

Coordinators

S.No	Portrait	Coordinator	Tenure
1		O. Panneerselvam (Chief Coordinator)	13 September 2017 - Present
2		Edappadi K. Palaniswami (Joint Coordinator)	13 September 2017 - Present

Deputy coordinators

S.No	Member	Tenure
1	K. P. Munusamy (Deputy Coordinator)	13 September 2017 - Present
2	R. Vaithilingam (Deputy Coordinator)	13 September 2017 - Present

List of chief ministers

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu:

S.No	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Tenure	Days
1		M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987)	30 June 1977 – 17 February 1980 9 June 1980 – 24 December 1987	3716 days
Acting		V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920–2000)	24 December 1987 – 7 January 1988	14 days
2		V. N. Janaki Ramachandran (1923–1996)	7 January 1988 – 30 January 1988	23 days
3		J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016)	24 June 1991 – 12 May 1996 14 May 2001 – 21 September 2001 2 March 2002 – 12 May 2006 16 May 2011 – 27 September 2014 23 May 2015 – 5 December 2016	5238 days
4		O. Panneerselvam (1951–)	21 September 2001 – 2 March 2002 28 September 2014 – 23 May 2015 5 December 2016 – 15 February 2017	471 days
5		Edappadi K. Palaniswami (1954–)	16 February 2017 – 6 May 2021	1540 days

Chief Minister of Pondicherry:

S.No	Name (birth–death)	Tenure	Days
1	Subramanyan Ramaswamy (1939–2017)	6 March 1974 – 28 March 1974 2 July 1977 – 12 November 1978	520 days

Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu:

S.No	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Tenure	Days
1		O. Panneerselvam (1951–)	21 August 2017 – 6 May 2021	1354 days

List of leaders of the opposition

Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

S.No	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Tenure	Days
1		J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016)	9 February 1989 – 30 November 1989 29 May 2006 – 14 May 2011	2105 days
2		S. R. Eradha (1934–2020)	1 December 1989 – 18 January 1991	413 days
3		O. Panneerselvam (1951–)	19 May 2006 – 28 May 2006	9 days
4		Edappadi K. Palaniswami (1954–)	11 May 2021 – Incumbent	998 days

List of union ministers

S.No	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Portfolio	Tenure	Prime Minister
1		Sathyavani Muthu (1923–1999)	Ministry of Social Welfare	19 August 1979 – 27 December 1979	Chaudhary Charan Singh
2		Aravinda Bala Pajanor (1935–2013)	Ministry of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers	19 August 1979 – 27 December 1979
3		Sedapatti R. Muthiah (1945–)	Ministry of Surface Transport	19 March 1998 – 12 October 1999	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
4		M. Thambidurai (1947–)	Ministry of Law,Justice and Company Affairs	19 March 1998 – 12 October 1999
5		R. K. Kumar (1942–1999)	Minister of State for Finance	19 March 1998 – 3 October 1999
6		Kadambur R. Janarthanan (1929–2020)	Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions	19 March 1998 – 12 October 1999
			Minister of State for Finance	4 October 1999 – 12 October 1999

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