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
Turnout69.69%
  First party Second party
 
M._Karunanidhi_.jpg
J Jayalalithaa.jpg
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 Increase 125 Decrease7
Popular vote 9,135,220 5,393,857
Percentage 37.89% 22.37%
Swing Increase0.89% 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 Decrease35 Decrease95
Popular vote 4,780,714 2,214,965
Percentage 19.83% 9.19%
Swing Increase3.55% 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.