1989 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election

1989 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election

← 1984 21 January 1989 11 March 1989 1991 →
All 234 seats in the Legislature of Tamil Nadu* 118 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	69.69%
First party Second party   Leader M. Karunanidhi J. Jayalalithaa Party DMK AIADMK Alliance National Front AIADMK (Jayalalithaa Faction) Leader's seat Harbour Bodinayakkanur Seats won 150 27 Seat change 125 7 Popular vote 9,135,220 5,393,857 Percentage 37.89% 22.37% Swing 0.89% n/a   Third party Fourth party   Leader G. K. Moopanar V. N. Janaki Ramachandran Party INC(I) AIADMK Alliance AIADMK (Janaki Faction) Leader's seat Papanasam Andipatti (lost) Seats won 26 2 Seat change 35 95 Popular vote 4,780,714 2,214,965 Percentage 19.83% 9.19% Swing 3.55% n/a
1989 election map (by constituencies) *Note: The Infobox does not include the 2 seats won by merged ADMK coalition in March bye-election.
CM before election President's rule Elected CM M. Karunanidhi DMK

The ninth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 21 January 1989. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election and its leader M. Karunanidhi, became the Chief Minister. It was his third term in office. The DMK was in power only for a short term, as it was dismissed on 31 January 1991 by the Indian Prime minister Chandra Shekhar using Article 356 (Otherwise) of the Indian Constitution.