# 1977 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu

The 1977 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. The result was a big victory for Indian National Congress under Indira Gandhi and its allies All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Communist Party of India winning 34 seats, while Janata Party and its allies Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Indian National Congress (Organisation) won only 5 seats. The Janata Party ended up winning this election. After the election, the AIADMK ended up supporting the Janata Party under Morarji Desai. In 1979, AIADMK continued to support Janata Party, by supporting Charan Singh, which resulted in the appointment of two AIADMK cabinet members.

## Seat Allotment
### AIADMK-led Alliance

| No. | Party | Leader | Seats |
| 1. | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | M. G. Ramachandran | 20 |
| 2. | Indian National Congress (R) | Indira Gandhi | 15 |
| 3. | Communist Party of India | Tha. Pandian | 3 |
| 4. | Indian Union Muslim League | K. M. Kader Mohideen | 1 |

### Janata Alliance

| No. | Party | Leader | Seats |
| 1. | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | M. Karunanidhi | 19 |
| 2. | Indian National Congress (Organization) | P. Ramachandran | 18 |
| 3. | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | G. Ramakrishnan | 2 |

## Voting and results

| Alliance | Alliance | Party | Party | Popular Vote | Percentage | Swing | Seats won | Seat Change |
| | AIADMK+ | | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 5,365,076 | 30.04% | new party | 17 | new party |
| | AIADMK+ | | Indian National Congress | 3,977,306 | 22.27% | 9.76% | 14 | 5 |
| | AIADMK+ | | Communist Party of India | 822,233 | 4.60% | 0.83% | 3 | 1 |
| | AIADMK+ | | Total | 10,164,615 | 56.91% | 38.97% | 34 | 21 |
| | DMK+ | | Indian National Congress (Organisation) | 3,156,116 | 17.67% | 12.76% | 3 | 2 |
| | DMK+ | | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 3,323,320 | 18.61% | 16.64% | 2 | 21 |
| | DMK+ | | Total | 6,479,436 | 36.28% | 29.40% | 5 | 19 |
| | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 279,081 | 1.56% | 0.08% | 0 | |
| | Republican Party of India | Republican Party of India | Republican Party of India | 3,809 | 0.02% | | 0 | |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 932,966 | 5.22% | 3.06% | 0 | |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 17,859,907 | 100.00% | | 39 | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 17,859,907 | 97.85% | 97.85% | 97.85% | 97.85% |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 392,275 | 2.15% | 2.15% | 2.15% | 2.15% |
| Total Votes | Total Votes | Total Votes | Total Votes | 18,252,182 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Registered Voters/Turnout | Registered Voters/Turnout | Registered Voters/Turnout | Registered Voters/Turnout | 27,187,417 | 67.13% | 4.69% | 4.69% | 4.69% |

## List of Elected MPs

| Constituency | Winner | Party | Margin | Runner-up$^a$ | Party$^a$ |
| Madras North | A. V. P. Asaithambi | DMK | 45,103 | K. Manoharan | AIADMK |
| Madras Central | P. Ramachandran | NCO | 73,411 | K. Raja Mohammad | AIADMK |
| Madras South | R. Venkataraman | INC | 14,829 | Murasoli Maran | DMK |
| Sriperumbudur | S. Jaganathan | AIADMK | 45,932 | T. P. Elumalai | NCO |
| Chengalpattu | R. Mohanarangam | AIADMK | 35,639 | Era. Sezhiyan | DMK |
| Arakkonam | O. V. Alagesa Mudaliar | INC | 57,864 | N. Veeraswamy | DMK |
| Vellore | V. Dhandayuthapani | NCO | 3,161 | Abdul Samad | IND |
| Tiruppattur | C. N. Viswanathan | Janata party | 98,666 | C. K. Chinnaraj Gounder | AIADMK |
| Vandavasi | Venugopal Gounder | AIADMK | 81,132 | Durai Murugan | DMK |
| Tindivanam | M. R. Lakshmi Narayanan | INC | 49,485 | V. Krishnamoorthy | DMK |
| Cuddalore | G. Bhuvarahan | INC | 89,057 | S. Radhakrishnan | NCO |
| Chidambaram | A. Murugesan | AIADMK | 109,234 | N. Rajangam | DMK |
| Dharmapuri | Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy | INC | 105,686 | P. Ponnuswamy | NCO |
| Krishnagiri | P. V. Periasamy | AIADMK | 119,228 | M. Kamalanathan | DMK |
| Rasipuram | B. Devarajan | INC | 133,438 | Jothi Venkatachalam | NCO |
| Salem | P. Kannan | AIADMK | 79,604 | K. Rajaram | DMK |
| Tiruchengode | R. Kolanthaivelu | AIADMK | 128,180 | M. Muthusamy | DMK |
| Nilgiris | P. S. Ramalingam | AIADMK | 59,346 | M. K. Nanja Gowder | NCO |
| Gobichettipalayam | K. S. Ramaswamy | INC | 105,458 | N. K. Karuppuswamy | NCO |
| Coimbatore | Parvathi Krishnan | CPI | 21,178 | S. V. Lakshmanan | NCO |
| Pollachi | K. A. Raju | AIADMK | 124,194 | C. T. Dhandapani | DMK |
| Palani | C. Subramaniam | INC | 221,768 | K. N. Saminathan | DMK |
| Dindigul | K. Maya Thevar | AIADMK | 169,224 | A. Balasubramaniam | CPM |
| Madurai | R. V. Swaminathan | INC | 134,345 | P. Ramamurthi | CPM |
| Periyakulam | S. Ramasamy | AIADMK | 204,392 | Palanivel Rajan | DMK |
| Karur | K. Gopal | INC | 145,520 | M. Meenakshi Sundaram | NCO |
| Tiruchirappalli | M. Kalyanasundaram | CPI | 76,045 | Y. Venkateswara Dikshidar | NCO |
| Perambalur | A. Asokaraj | AIADMK | 180,027 | J. S. Raju | DMK |
| Mayiladuthurai | N. Kudanthai Ramalingam | INC | 74,265 | S. Govindasamy | NCO |
| Nagapattinam | S. G. Murugaiyan | CPI | 40,810 | M. Thazhai Karunanithi | DMK |
| Thanjavur | S. D. Somasundaram | AIADMK | 97,743 | L. Ganesan | DMK |
| Pudukkottai | V. S. Elanchezhiyan | AIADMK | 223,615 | V. Vairava Thevar | NCO |
| Sivaganga | P. Thiagarajan | AIADMK | 211,533 | R. Ramanathan Chettiar | NCO |
| Ramanathapuram | P. Anbalagan | AIADMK | 175,130 | M. S. K. Sathiyendran | DMK |
| Sivakasi | V. Jeyalakshmi | INC | 114,848 | G. Ramanujuam | NCO |
| Tirunelveli | V. Arunachalam | AIADMK | 182,693 | Samsuddin alias K. M. Kathiravan | DMK |
| Tenkasi | M. Arunachalam | INC | 186,878 | S. Rajagopalan | NCO |
| Tiruchendur | K. T. Kosalram | INC | 120,190 | Edwin Devadasan | NCO |
| Nagercoil | Kumari Ananthan | NCO | 74,236 | M. Moses | INC |

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

While there were no members from Tamil Nadu in Morarji Desai's Administration, Charan Singh appointed two AIADMK members to his cabinet, making it the first time a non-Congress Dravidian Party member making it to the council of ministers at the national level.

### Cabinet Ministers (Charan Singh Administration)

| Minister | Party | Lok Sabha Constituency/Rajya Sabha | Portfolios |
| Aravinda Bala Pajanor | AIADMK | Pondicherry | |
| Satyavani Muthu | AIADMK | Rajya Sabha | |