Get Ready for a Zip Through Elections to Madras Legislature, Then TN Assembly

Thanjavur: More than 100 years have gone by, exactly 101 years till 2021, when the last Tamil Nadu legislative elections were held, ever since the first election to Madras legislature was held in 1920, if one goes by the timeline on elections to Madras legislature in India.

The long journey for democracy included the elections held during the British period and, later, independent India. The journey also includes elections to the Madras presidency, Madras state and then to Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

According to S.P. Anthonisamy, senior citizen of Thanjavur and son of A.Y.S. Parisutham Nadar, former MLA of Thanjavur, the system of electing people’s representatives to the legislature was first introduced during the British period. The first-ever general election in the Madras presidency was held in 1920.

The Justice Party won the elections and Subburayalu Reddiar became the first Chief Minister of the Madras province. After that Panakal Raja (Ramarayaningar) became the Chief Minister.

“There is a building, called ‘Panagal Building’, named after him in Thanjavur. Government offices function there even now. The building is near Sri Besant Lodge,” said Anthonisamy.

The Justice Party lost the 1926 election and there was no majority for any party. English Governor Goshan appointed Subbu Ryan as the Chief Minister. In the 1930 election, the Justice Party won again and Munuswamy Naidu became the Chief Minister. In 1937, the Congress contested for the first time and won. Rajaji became the Chief Minister.

In 1940, the Congress Cabinet resigned. Elections were not held during the Second World War period.

With the help of Kamaraj, Thangathuri Prakash became the Chief Minister in the 1946 elections. Eleven months later, Omandhur B. Ramaswamy Reddiyar assumed the post of Chief Minister.

After Independence in 1947, the name of Madras presidency was changed to Madras state. The first general election in independent India was held in 1952.

No one got a majority and the largest single party, the Congress, was called to form the government. Rajaji became Chief Minister. Kamaraj took the office of Chief Minister on April 13, 1954.

In 1956, during the rule of Kamaraj, the state of Kerala and Mysore state were formed under reorganisation of states based on linguistic lines.

In the 1957 general election, Congress won and Kamaraj became the Chief Minister.

“That was the golden era for Tamil Nadu. He introduced the mid-day meal. Tamil was made a compulsory subject. Many higher education institutes came into being like IIT-Madras, arts and engineering colleges, medical colleges (one medical college in Thanjavur), Industries like Bhel, NLC, dams like Sathanur, etc., were established,” said Anthonisamy.

The DMK contested in the 1957 election and M. Karunanidhi, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, was one among the DMK MLAs elected. In the 1962 election, the congress won again and Kamaraj was the Chief Minister. He had seven ministers in his Cabinet. Kamaraj resigned as chief minister in 1963 and Bhakthavachalam became Chief Minister.

The anti-Hindi struggle started on January 26, 1965. There was firing to suppress the anti-Hindi movement. DMK strongly backed the anti-Hindi movement. In the election held in 1967, DMK won and came to power. C.N. Annadurai became Chief Minister. On April 14, 1969, Madras state was renamed as Tamil Nadu.

Anna died in 1969, and Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister. The Assembly was dissolved prematurely in 1971 and Assembly election was held along with Parliament election.

The DMK alliance (DMK, Indira Congress) won and Karunanidhi became Chief Minister for the second time. In 1972, MGR was expelled from the DMK and he formed his party, the AIADMK. Nationwide Emergency was declared in 1975.

In the 1977 elections, MGR’s AIADMK won the Assembly election and MGR became the Chief Minister. In the 1980 Assembly election held after the dismissal of MGR’s government, he won again and became the Chief Minister.

In the 1984, Assembly election, MGR, won even while undergoing treatment at Brooklyn hospital in New York, and became Chief Minister.

A four-cornered contest was witnessed in 1989 with the DMK, Congress, Janaki Ammal and Jayalalithaa parties in the fray. The DMK won and Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister.

The DMK regime was dismissed and in the 1990 election, the AIADMK, led by Jayalalithaa, came to power.

In 1996, DMK-Tamil Maanila Congress of G.K. Moopanar won and the DMK formed the government. Karunanidhi became Chief Minister. In the 2001 election, AIADMK-TMC alliance won and Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister.

In 2006, the DMK alliance won and Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister. In 2011, the AIADMK came to power and Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister. In 2016, the AIADMK won again and Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister.

After her death, Edappadi K. Palaniswami became the Chief Minister. Karunanidhi died in 2018.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the DMK won and M.K. Stalin became the Chief Minister.

“A four-cornered contest was witnessed in 1989. Again, now, with Naam Tamilar Katchi of Seeman and TVK of Vijay in place, a four-cornered contest is on the anvil for 2026 with two parties contesting alone and two major alliances in place,” said Anthonisamy.

“It is high time we moved towards electoral reforms to ensure a more mature democracy,” said Anthonisamy.