Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani (transl. Tamil Nadu Progressive Front) was a short-lived political party founded by veteran Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan that existed from January 1988 to December 1989.[1] Sivaji Ganesan had a long running relation with many political parties, with his first movie itself being a movie of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).This party also contested on ladder symbol in 1989 election.
The party was born in January 1988 after a split in the Tamil Nadu faction of the Indian National Congress. The split itself was after another party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) broke into two fragments one led by V. N. Janaki and R. M. Veerappan and other by J. Jayalalithaa. Ganesan and his supporters left the Congress on differences in opinion on which fragment of ADMK to ally with in 1989 state elections.
Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani backed V. N. Janaki Ramachandran's fragment of the party and lost in all seats it competed for. Ganesan eventually regretted his decision to float his own party and merged the party with Janata Dal in December 1989.[1]