T.N. Assembly election: Stung by erosion in vote share, AIADMK fighting battle of perception

The AIADMK, which has ruled Tamil Nadu for the longest time since 1977, is struggling with the negative perception that it is fast becoming a sub-regional party – at a time when it has suffered frequent electoral setbacks.

A look at the party’s strength as measured in the 2021 Assembly elections reveals that the Dravidian major was very weak in Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Chennai (KTCC) districts, where it could win only one of the 37 Assembly seats (Madurantakam). The 2024 Lok Sabha election did not provide any relief to the leadership. If the votes polled by the coalitions led by the AIADMK and its current ally, the BJP, were added to the KTCC belt, they would have fared well in only two segments of the Assembly: T. Nagar and Madurantakam.

But a former member of the party points out that even in the 1977 and 1980 Assembly polls when AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran was in power, the organization won only one and two seats respectively in Chennai. He recalls that at one stage, MGR wanted many of his senior colleagues to take charge in Chennai constituencies.

In the remaining 41 seats of the northern district, covering Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur districts, the party secured nine seats five years ago and is ahead of the DMK-led front in Tirukoyilur and Ulundurpettai segments in 2024. If the AIADMK and BJP fronts were together, there would be such a coalition. Guaranteed leadership in 17 other Assembly segments in 2024.

The Cauvery delta or the central region with 41 seats has not been that good for the party either. Even when the AIADMK came out on top with 150 seats in 2011, the district’s share was a modest 26 seats. In 2024, only in the Assembly segments of Ariyalur and Jayamkondam, the party was ahead of others. Had he been aligned with the BJP, four more segments would have accrued.

The southern parts of the state have long been considered one of the party’s strongholds. MGR chose Aruppukottai, now in Virudhunagar district, to contest in the 1977 Assembly elections and became the Prime Minister for the first time. Three years later the constituency became Madurai West and finally Andipatti in 1984. Jayalalithaa was first elected to the Assembly from Bodinayakkanur in 1989 and from Andipatti in 2002 and 2006. But the organisation’s strength in 2024 can be gauged from the fact that five of the seven Lok Sabha seats for which the party has lost its deposit are in the south. A middle-aged leader of the party from the region is confident that the party will regain lost ground thanks to its tie-up with TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).

On the contrary, the western or Kongu region has been a staunch supporter of the party, for better or for worse. In 2011 and 2016, when the AIADMK seized and retained power, the number of districts varied between 39 and 42. Even in 2021, the party won 35 seats against a formidable coalition led by DMK. Three years later, at the time of the Lok Sabha polls, the AIADMK was the leading party in only eight segments of the Assembly across the state, four of which were from the district. If there was a joint performance by AIADMK, BJP and their allies, 34 more sections would have participated in it.

Commenting on the issue, senior leader of the party and former Minister of Education and Health S. Semmalai points out that each party has its own areas of strength. “AIADMK is a people’s movement with a state-wide base,” he asserts. Mr. Semmalai said that whenever new parties emerge based on the strength of certain communities, traditional parties face some difficulties in the number of supporters. According to him, to overcome this factor, his party’s general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has devised certain strategies, including tying up with different parties for the April 23 Assembly elections.

It was published – 24 March 2026 16:48 IST