1998 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu

Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1998

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39 (of 543) seats in the Lok Sabha
Registered4,55,77,788
Turnout2,64,10,702 (57.95%) Decrease8.98%
  First party Second party
 
J Jayalalithaa.jpg
M._Karunanidhi_.jpg
Leader J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi
Party AIADMK DMK
Alliance NDA UF+LF
Seats won 30 9
Seat change Increase30 Decrease30
Popular vote 1,21,69,812 1,09,37,809
Percentage 47.53% 42.72%
Swing Increase29.47% Decrease12.24%

1998 Election map (by constituencies)
Saffron = NDA and Red = UF

The 1998 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. New elections were called when Indian National Congress (INC) left the United Front government led by I. K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi.[1] The result was a landslide victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 30 seats, which helped result in Atal Bihari Vajpayee being sworn in as the 16th Prime Minister of India. J. Jayalalithaa and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, broke off from their long alliance with Indian National Congress and formed an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party, by joining the National Democratic Alliance. This state proved to be very important in determining the prime minister, since the 18 seats of AIADMK proved valuable for BJP to hold power. That was short-lived, since the AIADMK left the alliance in less than a year, and BJP lost the vote of confidence resulting in fresh elections being called.

  1. ^ "Government Falls, Indian Premier Quits; Coalition Splits Amid Gandhi Assassination Debate - The Washington Post". 3 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.