1967 Madras Legislative Assembly election

← 1962 5–21 February 1967 1971 (TN) →
All 234 seats in theTamil Nadu Legislative Assembly 118 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.57%
First party Second party   Leader C. N. Annadurai M. Bhaktavatsalam Party DMK INC Leader's seat Did Not Contest[a] Sriperumbudur (lost) Seats won 179 51 Seat change 121[2] 84[2] Popular vote 8,051,433 6,293,378 Percentage 52.59% 41.10% Swing 15.70% 5.04%
Chief Minister before election M. Bakthavatsalam INC Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai DMK

Thefourth legislative assembly election ofMadras State (later renamed asTamil Nadu) was held in February 1967. TheDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led coalition under the leadership ofC.N. Annadurai won the election defeating theIndian National Congress (Congress).Anti-Hindi agitations, the rising prices of essential commodities, and a shortage of rice were the dominant issues.K. Kamaraj's resignation as the Chief Minister in 1963, to concentrate on party affairs, along with persistent rumors of corruption had weakened the incumbent Congress Government. This was the first time that a non-congress party had gained a single simple majority in a state assembly in India, second time afterCommunist Party of India winningKerala assembly elections in 1957 for a non-Congress party alliance to gain the majority in a state inIndia, and the last time that Congress held power in Tamil Nadu. It marked the beginning ofDravidian dominance in the politics of Tamil Nadu. Annadurai, who became the first non-Congress chief minister of post-independence Tamil Nadu, died in office in 1969 andV.R. Nedunchezhiyan took over as acting chief minister. Since then, except for brief months of President's rule, onlyDravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its splitawayAnna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have formed cabinets in the State.

The Congress party began to show weakness in the years after the1962 election.^[3] In the summer of 1962, DMK conducted demonstrations against rising prices. These demonstrations turned violent throughout the state leading to the arrest of 6500 DMK volunteers, 14 members of the assembly and four members of the Lok Sabha, including Annadurai.^[3]

Kamaraj voluntarily resigned the Chief Ministership in 1963, despite being popular, to assume the presidency of theAll India Congress Committee and was replaced byM. Bakthavatsalam. Kamaraj had hoped to serve as role model to other senior Congress leaders to pave way for youngsters and strengthen the party's popularity. Robert L. Hardgrave Jr. (Temple Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, Government and Asian Studies from theUniversity of Texas) wrote in an article published in the journalPacific Affairs, that M. Bhaktavatsalam did not have the personal charisma or political acumen of Kamaraj. Persistent rumours of corruption tarnished the image of the Government. In October 1964, the food crisis brought the popularity of the Congress Government to an all-time low.^[3]

The major issues at play in the election were theofficial language issue, the rise in essential commodity prices and the shortage of rice. The central Government led by the Indian National Congress had implemented an act replacing English with Hindi as an official language of India while retaining a possible "associate" status to English. The switchover came into effect on 26 January 1965. In protest to the vague wording of the act, fearing a possible elimination of English and imposition of Hindi, DMK had launched anagitation opposing the switchover and that agitation turned violent. The 1967 election was held in the aftermath of this violence.^[4]

The acute rice shortage prevailing in the state became an election issue with the DMK promising to supply threepadis (approx. 4.5 kg) of rice for 1Rupee in its election manifesto.^[5][6] The DMK capitalised on the rice shortage as well as widespread discontent with the Bhaktavatsalam administration. Slogans likeKamarajar Annachi kadalaiparuppu vilai ennachu (Elder Brother (Annachi is a title historically been used to refer to a person ofKamaraj's caste) Kamaraj, what happened to the price of chana dal?),Bhaktavatsalam annachi, arisi vilai ennachu (lit. Brother Bhatavatsalam, what happened to the price of rice?) were used effectively by the DMK to stir public anger against the Congress.^[7]

This election was noted for popular actor, DMK candidate and future Chief MinisterM.G. Ramachandran (MGR) being shot in the throat by actorM.R. Radha mere weeks before the polls. He survived the shooting, but the incident created a huge popularity wave for MGR. This eventually helped to increase the popularity of not only MGR, but also the DMK in the election, and is attributed as one of the reasons for the victory of the DMK.^[8]

There were two major political coalitions running in the elections. TheIndian National Congress contested^[9] alone, while theDravidar Kazhagam (DK) underPeriyar E. V. Ramasamy supported and campaigned for the incumbent Congress against his protege Annadurai.^[10][11][12] TheDMK-led front comprised theSwatantra Party,Communist Party of India (Marxist),Praja Socialist Party,Samyukta Socialist Party,Tamil Nadu Toilers Party,Republican Party of India and theIndian Union Muslim League. TheTamil Arasu Kazhagam and the We Tamils party campaigned using the DMK election symbol.^[4] This opposition coalition was forged byC. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) with the sole purpose of defeating the Kamaraj led Congress. Rajaji's personal hostility to Kamaraj and his opposition to the Congress party were the main reasons behind Swatantra's alliance with DMK.^[13] TheCommunist Party of India campaigned alone without joining either of the two coalitions.^[14][15]

The electoral alliance between DMK, Swatantra Party and Muslim League had emerged in the years before the 1964 civic elections throughout Madras state. During the 1964 election campaignRajagopalachari had said, "The DMK and Muslim League are my children and I am duty bound to nurse them to strength and stature."^[3]

Both Congress and DMK used films and actors for campaigning.Gemini Studios produced a political film for the Congress –Vazhga Nam Thayagam starringShivaji Ganesan andNagesh. Sivaji andPadmini worked for the Congress party. Despite its efforts, Congress could not counter the DMK's propaganda, which had a long history of using films for political campaigns since its founding.^[16]

DMK's long-term association with theTamil Film industry was put to good use in the campaign. MGR's films were used to attack Congress policies and to popularise DMK's positions. Similar to the tactics employed in the elections of1957 and1962, film songs and dialogues fromKaanji Thalaivan (1963), "Deivathai (1964), "Padakotti (1964)",Aayirathil Oruvan",Enga Veettu Pillai (1965),Anbe Vaa (1966), Naan Aanaiyittal (1966), "Mugarasi (1966)", "Petralthan Pillaya (1966)",Vivasayee (1967) andArasakattalai (1967) were used for political messaging. Lesser known film stars like Ravichandran andJaishankar used their films for praising DMK and Annadurai. The DMK put up posters of MGR recuperating in a hospital bed with a neck cast (from his gunshot wounds) all over Tamil Nadu to garner public sympathy and support.^[7][17][18]

The election was held for a total of 234 constituencies, including 43Scheduled Caste and 2Scheduled Tribe reserved constituencies. 778 candidates, including 11 women were in the fray, of whom 231 men and 3 women were elected to the assembly. The election saw a turnout of 76.57 percent of all eligible voters, with 79.19% men and 73.99% women casting their votes. The polling for the assembly election took place along with the polling for the1967 parliamentary elections. It took place in three phases between 5 and 21 February (5, 18 and 21 February).^[19][20]

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		C. N. Annadurai	168
2.		Swatantra Party		C. Rajagopalachari	27
3.		Communist Party of India (Marxist)		M. R. Venkataraman	22
4.		Praja Socialist Party		Jayaprakash Narayan	4
5.		Indian Union Muslim League		Muhammed Ismail	3
6.		Samyukta Socialist Party		George Fernandes	3
Unrecognized parties, whose candidates ran under DMK ticket
7.		Naam Tamilar Katchi		S. P. Adithanar	4
8.		Tamil Arasu Kazhagam		M. P. Sivagnanam	2
Unrecognized parties, whose candidates ran as an independent supported by DMK
9.		Independent politician			2

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		Indian National Congress		M. Bhakthavatsalam	232

DMK and its coalition allies won 179 seats (76.5%). The Indian National Congress won 51 seats (21.8%).^[21] Four candidates of theNaam Thamizhar Party led byS. P. Adithanar and two candidates ofTamil Arasu Kazhagam led byM. P. Sivagnanam contested^[9] under DMK's "Rising Sun" Symbol. TheIndian Union Muslim League candidates contested^[9] as independents.^[22]

^[2][23]

Alliances	Party		Popular Vote	Vote %	Seats contested	Seats won	Change
United Front[24] Seats: 179 Seat Change: 121 Popular Vote: 8,051,433 Popular Vote %: 52.59%		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	6,230,552	40.69%	174	137	87
		Swatantra Party	811,232	5.30%	27	20	12
		CPI(M)	623,114	4.07%	22	11	11
		Praja Socialist Party	136,188	0.89%	4	4	4
		Indian Union Muslim League	95,494	0.62%	3	3	3
		Samyukta Socialist Party	84,188	0.55%	3	2	2
	DMK Backed Independents		70,665	0.46%	2	2	2
Indian National Congress Seats: 51 Seat Change: 84 Popular Vote: 6,293,378 Popular Vote %: 41.10%		Indian National Congress	6,293,378	41.10%	232	51	84
Others Seats: 4 Seat Change: 4		Independent	591,214	3.86%	246	1	4
		Communist Party of India	275,932	1.80%	32	2
		Forward Bloc	44,714	0.29%	1	1
		Republican Party of India	31,286	0.20%	13	0
		Bharatiya Jana Sangh	22,745	0.15%	24	0
Total	11 Political Parties		15,310,702	100%	—	234	28

The effective grass roots campaigning by the DMK and the political acumen of Annadurai, defeated the Congress and its leader M. Bhaktavatsalam. The popularity of the United Front was so large that they were able to win an absolute majority in ten out of the 14 districts in the state, while Congress could not accomplish that in a single district. This was largely due to the fact that the United Front was able to capitalize on its growing support in large towns and cities, combined with the decline in Congress support in its traditionalSchedule Caste constituencies.^[24]

The following table shows the number of seats won by corresponding parties, by the margin of votes.^[24]

The former Chief Minister and prominentIndian National Congress leader,K. Kamaraj, lost his seat in theVirudhunagar by a margin of 1,285 votes to DMK's student leader,P. Seenivasan. Just days before the election, Kamaraj was injured in an accident and was unable to campaign, leading to his well-known remark that he would "win lying down" (i.e., without campaigning efforts). (Tamil:படுத்துக் கொண்டே ஜெயிப்பேன்).^[7] He lost the election along with the incumbent Chief MinisterM. Bakthavatsalam, who lost his seat inSriperumbudur toD. Rajarathinam from the DMK by 8926 votes. Except forG. Bhuvaraghan (the minister for Information and Publicity), all ministers of the outgoing Bakthavatsalam cabinet were defeated in this election.^[27][28]

There was a post-result wall-painting inVirudhunagar by DMK which said "படிக்காத காமராஜரை படித்த இளைஞன் சீனிவாசன் தோற்கடித்தார்!" ( The illiterate Kamaraj was defeated by Graduate Youth Sreenivasan!). The Congress replied with "படிக்காத முதல்வர் காமராஜர் அன்று கட்டிய அரசு கல்விக்கூடங்களில் படித்து பட்டம் வாங்கிய இளைஞன் சீனிவாசன், இப்போது அதே காமராஜரை தோற்கடித்தான்" (The Seenivasan who studied and graduated in Education Institutes built under orders of then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu illiterate Kamaraj, has now defeated the same Kamaraj)

The election results were announced on 23 February 1967, with the DMK securing an absolute majority. DMK's General Secretary, C.N. Annadurai, who had been serving as a Member of theRajya Sabha and was newly elected to theLok Sabha from Kanjipuram, led the party to increase its vote share to 40.6%, up from 27.1% in the 1962 election. Annadurai and the DMK had not anticipated such a decisive victory; Annadurai had contested to become a Member of Parliament rather than a Member of the Legislative Assembly. With no other consensus candidate for the Chief Minister role, Annadurai resigned from both his Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha seats. He was nominated as Chief Minister of Madras State and formally staked a claim to form the government on 2 March 1967 He was sworn in by GovernorUjjal Singh on 6 March 1967 in Rajaji Hall.^{[citation needed]} He was later elected to theMadras Legislative Council on 22 April 1967.^[29][30]

The council of ministers inC. N. Annadurai's cabinet (6 March 1967 – 10 February 1969) were all from the DMK and they are listed in the following table.^[31]

• Indian general election in Madras, 1967
• Elections in Tamil Nadu
• Legislature of Tamil Nadu
• Government of Tamil Nadu

• State Assembly elections in Madras
• 1967 State Assembly elections in India

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from April 2024
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Indian English from October 2014
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
• Use dmy dates from May 2020
• Pages using Party name with color with unknown parameters
• Articles containing Tamil-language text
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021
• Good articles