AIADMK returns to power in Tamil Nadu
What happened
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, led by Jayalalithaa, won power in Tamil Nadu, defeating the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in a landslide.1
It won 150 of the 234 seats on offer.
That left it 32 seats clear of a majority.
The ADMK took 64.1% of the seats on 38.4% of the vote.
Its AIADMK-led Alliance — a group of parties that team up to fight an election together and share power afterward — took 203 seats altogether.
- 1AIADMK Manifesto Promises Free Grinders, Fans, Laptops and Rice — AIADMK manifesto coverage (Tribune India, special election coverage, published 10 April 2011)
The campaign
On 6 February 2011, sitting Mylapore MLA and actor-turned-politician S V Shekhar, expelled from AIADMK in 2009, joined the Indian National Congress ahead of the election.2
On 9 March 2011 the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Congress struck a seat-sharing deal under which Congress would contest 63 of the 234 seats.3
The next day, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi announced the poll schedule: nominations by 26 March, single-phase polling on 13 April, and counting on 13 May 2011.4
AIADMK, led by Jayalalithaa, finalized an alliance with the CPI, CPI(M) and Vijayakant's DMDK, which was allotted 41 of the seats it contested. Vaiko's MDMK, given fewer seats than it had asked for, quit the alliance and boycotted the election.56
AIADMK's manifesto, unveiled under Jayalalithaa, promised a free wet grinder, mixie and fan to every ration-card holder, free laptops for students, four grams of gold for mangalsutras, and 20 kg of free rice.1
- 1AIADMK Manifesto Promises Free Grinders, Fans, Laptops and Rice — AIADMK manifesto coverage (Tribune India, special election coverage, published 10 April 2011)
- 2Actor-Politician S. V. Shekhar Joins Congress Ahead of Poll — 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
- 3DMK and Congress Strike Seat-Sharing Deal for 2011 Poll — 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
- 4Election Commission Announces 2011 Tamil Nadu Poll Schedule — 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
- 5AIADMK Finalizes Alliance With DMDK and Left Parties — 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
- 6Vaiko's MDMK Quits AIADMK Alliance, Boycotts Election Over Seats — 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
What changed
DMK's time in government ended in collapse.
ADMK's own vote share rose +5.8 pp from the previous election, to 38.4%.
Turnout, the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot, rose +7.4 pp to 78.2% — the highest the state had recorded up to that point.
Notable numbers
The closest race was at Egmore, Tamil Nadu, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of 202 votes.
Tiruppur (North), Tamil Nadu was won by the widest margin of the year, 45.5% of the vote.
Veerapandi, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest turnout of any seat, at 89.1%.
Shozhinganallur, Tamil Nadu was the largest constituency by registered voters, with 3,57,660 names on its rolls.
Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, Tamil Nadu drew the most crowded ballot of the year, with 31 candidates standing.
The backdrop
On 17 October 1972 the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam expelled M G Ramachandran as party treasurer, and he founded the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, renamed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1976.7
The two parties have contested every Tamil Nadu assembly election since 1977, including this one.7
- 7MGR splits from DMK, founds AIADMK — All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam