# 1996 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu

The 1996 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. The result was a landslide for the newly formed alliance between Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) and its leader G. K. Moopanar, and the left parties who ended up getting all 39 seats. Post election, the newly formed United Front, ended up getting all the seats from Tamil Nadu, since DMK and TMC joined it, with outside support from Indian National Congress (INC). The results in Tamil Nadu is a reflection of the results nationally, where INC, ended up losing the most seats. This election was seen as redemption for Moopanar and TMC, since they left Congress, on grounds that they formed an alliance with AIADMK, even though J. Jayalalithaa, general secretary of AIADMK, was accused of many corruption charges. This led to a disastrous showing, for AIADMK and Congress in Tamil Nadu, since they lost all 39 seats from the last election, and TMC reaping the benefits by getting the most seats, in this election with 20 seats.

## Seat allotments
### United Front

| No. | Party | Leader | Seats |
| 1. | Tamil Maanila Congress | G. K. Moopanar | 20 |
| 2. | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | M. Karunanidhi | 17 |
| 3. | Communist Party of India | R. Nallakannu | 2 |

### Congress Front

| No. | Party | Party | Election Symbol | Leader | Seats |
| 1. | | Indian National Congress | | P.V. Narasimha Rao | 29 |
| 2. | | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | | J. Jayalalithaa | 10 |

### MDMK-CPI(M) Front

| No. | Party | Leader | Seats |
| 1. | Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | Vaiko | 24 |
| 2. | Janata Dal | | 8 |
| 3. | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | N. Sankaraiah | 7 |

### PMK-Tiwari Congress Front

| No. | Party | Party | Election Symbol | Leader | Seats |
| 1. | | Pattali Makkal Katchi | | Dr. Ramdoss | 15 |
| 2. | | All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) | | Vazhappady Ramamurthy | 12 |

## Voting and results

| Alliance | Alliance | Party | Party | Popular Vote | Percentage | Swing | Seats won | Seat Change |
| | United Front | | Tamil Maanila Congress | 7,339,982 | 27.00% | new party | 20 | new party |
| | United Front | | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 6,967,679 | 25.63% | 2.94% | 17 | 17 |
| | United Front | | Communist Party of India | 632,813 | 2.33% | 0.29% | 2 | 2 |
| | United Front | | Total | 14,940,474 | 54.96% | 30.23% | 39 | 39 |
| | AIADMK+ | | Indian National Congress | 4,965,364 | 18.26% | 24.31% | 0 | 28 |
| | AIADMK+ | | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 2,130,286 | 7.84% | 10.26% | 0 | 11 |
| | AIADMK+ | | Total | 7,095,650 | 26.10% | 34.57% | 0 | 39 |
| | MDMK+ | | Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1,222,415 | 4.50% | new party | 0 | new party |
| | MDMK+ | | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 632,813 | 2.33% | 0.29% | 0 | |
| | MDMK+ | | Janata Dal | 415,287 | 1.53% | 1.38% | 0 | |
| | MDMK+ | | Total | 2,270,515 | 8.36% | 3.41% | 0 | |
| | PMK+ | | All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) | 605,565 | 2.23% | new party | 0 | new party |
| | PMK+ | | Pattali Makkal Katchi | 552,118 | 2.03% | 3.09% | 0 | |
| | PMK+ | | Total | 1,157,683 | 4.26% | 0.86% | 0 | |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 815,224 | 3.00% | 1.57% | 0 | |
| | Other Parties (14 parties) | Other Parties (14 parties) | Other Parties (14 parties) | 909,395 | 3.32% | 0.22% | 0 | |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 27,188,941 | 100.00% | | 39 | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 27,188,941 | 95.60% | 95.60% | 95.60% | 95.60% |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 1,249,944 | 4.40% | 4.40% | 4.40% | 4.40% |
| Total Votes | Total Votes | Total Votes | Total Votes | 28,438,885 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Registered Voters/Turnout | Registered Voters/Turnout | Registered Voters/Turnout | Registered Voters/Turnout | 42,488,022 | 66.93% | 3.01% | 3.01% | 3.01% |
Note: TMC(M) is a spliter-group of INC, who carried with them 6 incumbent MPs from previous election ‡: Vote % reflects the percentage of votes the party received compared to the entire electorate that voted in this election. Adjusted (Adj.) Vote %, reflects the average % of votes the party received per constituency that they contested. Sources: Election Commission of India

## List of Elected MPs

| Constituency | Winner | Party | Margin | Runner-up$^a$ | Party$^a$ |
| 1. Chennai North | N. V. N. Somu | DMK | 389,617 | D. Pandian | INC |
| 2. Chennai Central | Murasoli Maran | DMK | 280,467 | G. K. J. Bharathi | INC |
| 3. Chennai South | T.R. Baalu | DMK | 339,181 | H. Ganesham | AIADMK |
| 4. Sriperumbudur | T. Nagaratnam | DMK | 245,711 | Lata Priyakumar | INC |
| 5. Chengalpattu | K. Parasuraman | DMK | 235,657 | S. M. Krishnan | INC |
| 6. Arakkonam | A. M. Velu | TMC(M) | 264,845 | R. Raviram | INC |
| 7. Vellore | P. Shanmugam | DMK | 211,035 | B. Akbar Pasha | INC |
| 8. Tiruppattur | D. Venugopal | DMK | 240,264 | R. Anbarasu | INC |
| 9. Vandavasi | L. Balaraman | TMC(M) | 173,304 | M. Krishnaswamy | INC |
| 10. Tindivanam | G. Venkatraman | DMK | 190,276 | K. Ramamurthy | INC |
| 11. Cuddalore | P. R. S. Venkatesan | TMC(M) | 205,204 | V. Sathyamurthy | INC |
| 12. Chidambaram | V. Ganesan | DMK | 176,266 | R. Elumalai | PMK |
| 13. Dharmapuri | P. Theertharaman | TMC(M) | 131,246 | M. P. Subramanyam | INC |
| 14. Krishnagiri | C. Narasimhan | TMC(M) | 194,676 | E. V. K. S. Elangovan | INC |
| 15. Rasipuram | K. Kandasamy | TMC(M) | 193,178 | K. Jayakumar | INC |
| 16. Salem | R. Devadass | TMC(M) | 120,885 | K. V. Thankabalu | INC |
| 17. Tiruchengode | K. P. Ramalingam | DMK | 194,188 | A. V. Kumarasamy | AIADMK |
| 18. Nilgiris | S. R. Balasubramaniam | TMC(M) | 281,376 | R. Prabhu | INC |
| 19. Gobichettipalayam | V. P. Shanmugasundaram | DMK | 142,968 | P. G. Narayanan | AIADMK |
| 20. Coimbatore | M. Ramanathan | DMK | 262,787 | C. K. Kuppuswamy | INC |
| 21. Pollachi | V. Kandasamy | TMC(M) | 138,891 | R. Anna Nambi | AIADMK |
| 22. Palani | Salarapatty Kuppusamy Kaarvendhan | TMC(M) | 192,633 | P. Kumarasamy | AIADMK |
| 23. Dindigul | N. S. V. Chitthan | TMC(M) | 267,914 | Dindigul C. Sreenivasan | AIADMK |
| 24. Madurai | A. G. S. Ram Babu$^c$ | TMC(M) | 189,806 | Subramanian Swamy | JP |
| 25. Periyakulam | R. Gnanagurusamy | DMK | 131,337 | R. Ramasamy | AIADMK |
| 26. Karur | K. Natrayan | TMC(M) | 168,274 | M. Thambi Durai | AIADMK |
| 27. Tiruchirappalli | L. Adaikalaraj$^c$ | TMC(M) | 264,708 | K. Gopal | INC |
| 28. Perambalur | A. Raja | DMK | 214,247 | P. V. Subramanian | INC |
| 29. Mayiladuturai | P. V. Rajendran | TMC(M) | 153,544 | Mani Shankar Iyer | INC |
| 30. Nagapattinam | M. Selvarasu | CPI | 221,346 | M. Kannivannan | INC |
| 31. Thanjavur | S. S. Palanimanickam | DMK | 200,428 | K. Thulasiah Vandyar | INC |
| 32. Pudukkottai | N. Siva | DMK | 177,873 | V. N. Swaminathan | INC |
| 33. Sivaganga | P. Chidambaram$^c$ | TMC(M) | 247,302 | M. Gowrishankaran | INC |
| 34. Ramanathapuram | S. P. Udayappan | TMC(M) | 195,304 | V. Rajeshwaran | INC |
| 35. Sivakasi | V. Alagirisamy | CPI | 23,622 | Sanjay Ramasamy | AIADMK |
| 36. Tirunelveli | D. S. A. Sivaprakasam | DMK | 118,280 | A. R. Rajaselvam | AIADMK |
| 37. Tenkasi | M. Arunachalam$^c$ | TMC(M) | 95,926 | V. Selvaraj | INC |
| 38. Tiruchendur | R. Dhanuskodi Athithan$^c$ | TMC(M) | 203,711 | S. Justin | INC |
| 39. Nagercoil | N. Dennis$^c$ | TMC(M) | 27,697 | Pon. Radhakrishnan | BJP |
$^c$-indicates sitting/incumbent M.P. from previous Lok Sabha (1991–1996)

## Post-election Union Council of Ministers from Tamil Nadu

Source: Thinkquest Library

### Cabinet Ministers

| Minister | Party | Lok Sabha Constituency/Rajya Sabha | Portfolios |
| Murasoli Maran | DMK | Chennai Central | Minister of Commerce and Industry |
| G. Venkatraman | DMK | Tindivanam | Minister of Surface Transport |
| M. Arunachalam | TMC(M) | Tenkasi | Minister of Urban Development (few months) Minister of Labour |
| P. Chidambaram | TMC(M) | Sivaganga | Minister of Finance |

### Ministers of State

| Minister | Party | Lok Sabha Constituency/Rajya Sabha | Portfolios |
| T.R. Baalu | DMK | Chennai South | Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| R. Dhanuskodi Athithan | TMC(M) | Tiruchendur | Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports |
| N. V. N. Somu | DMK | Chennai North | Minister of Defence |