2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election

The Sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election was held on 6 April 2021, to elect representatives from the 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election, ending the decade-long reign of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The DMK's leader M. K. Stalin became the eighth Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and the 12th Chief Minister since the 1956 reorganization. He replaced Edappadi K. Palaniswami of the AIADMK.

2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election

6 April 2021
All 234 elected seats in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly 118 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.63% ( 1.18%)
First party Second party   File:Hon CM Photo.jpg Leader M. K. Stalin Edappadi K. Palaniswami Party DMK AIADMK Alliance SPA NDA Leader since 2018 2017 Leader's seat Kolathur Edappadi Seats won 159 75 Seat change 61 61 Popular vote 20,982,088 18,363,499 Percentage 45.38% 39.72% Swing 5.53 2.16
Election map (By constituencies)
Chief Minister before election Edappadi K. Palaniswami AIADMK Elected Chief Minister M. K. Stalin DMK

The poll was Tamil Nadu's first assembly election after the demises of the two most prominent Chief Ministers in the state's modern history, J. Jayalalithaa—general secretary of the AIADMK, and M. Karunanidhi—president of the DMK, who died in 2016 and 2018 respectively. With the AIADMK winning the 2016 election, Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister and served for almost six months. Upon her death, O. Panneerselvam took charge as the Chief Minister, shortly after which Palaniswami was sworn-in instead in 2017, who served till the end of the fifteenth assembly's tenure. The Election Commission of India declared the election to the sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on 26 February 2021.

The DMK continued its Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) with the Indian National Congress, the Communist parties and many others, and named Stalin as its candidate for the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Office. The AIADMK joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party of the Union Government of India, with Palanisami as its Chief Ministerial candidate. The polling was held on 6 April 2021 under COVID-19 guidelines. The state recorded a voter turnout of 72.81%. Surveys before and after the polls predicted the Stalin-led SPA to win the elections with a large margin. The votes were counted on 2 May 2021; the SPA amassed 159 seats, with the DMK alone winning in 133 constituencies, securing an absolute majority. The NDA won 75 seats, out of which 66 were of the AIADMK. The DMK formed the Government of Tamil Nadu for the sixth time. Stalin and his council of ministers were sworn in on 7 May 2021.

It was also the first time in 25 years that the DMK won a majority on its own.

Overview

The state of Tamil Nadu is divided into 234 assembly constituencies, each of which elects a member (called an MLA) to represent it at the state's unicameral legislative assembly, as per Article 168 of the Constitution of India. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly convenes at Fort St. George, Chennai. The member that manages to receive the support of the majority of the members of the assembly (that is the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party that secures more than 50% of the seats), which is a minimum of 118 members, is appointed as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is the executive head of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Governor of Tamil Nadu, the state's ceremonial head, will invite the Chief-Minister-elect and his Council of Ministers to be sworn in, to lead the state government for a term of the next five years.

The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Sunil Arora, holding a press conference in New Delhi on February 26, 2021, to announce the schedule for Legislative Assembly election of Tamil Nadu along with those of Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu's partisan politics have been dominated by its two regional Dravidian parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), for the last 50 years (since 1967). Each recognized party in India is given a polling symbol by the Election Commission of India, an independent and neutral body of officers that conducts and regulates all the elections in the country. The DMK contests with the Rising Sun symbol, while the AIADMK contests with the Two Leaves.

The legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu goes to polls alongside the legislative assemblies of three other Indian states, namely Assam, Kerala, and West Bengal, and that of the union territory of Puducherry.

Background

Further information: List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu

The sixteenth legislative assembly election is the first election to the body after the deaths of the two most prominent Chief Ministers and political supremos of modern Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi (pictured left) and J. Jayalalithaa (right).

M. Karunanidhi of the DMK and J. Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK were two of the most important leaders in the state's politics. They have served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times each. In the 2011 election, the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa handily defeated the DMK headed by Karunanidhi. In 2016, the Jayalalitha-led AIADMK retained its majority with 136 seats, while the DMK increased its strength to 98 seats. 2021's election of the sixteenth assembly election is the first state election after the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi, who died in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

Rise of V.K. Sasikala

Following Jayalalithaa's demise from cardiac arrest on 5 December 2016, O. Panneerselvam of the AIADMK became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the third time. The first two times he attained the post (21 September 2001 to 2 March 2002, and 28 September 2014 to 23 May 2015) was when Jayalalithaa was forcibly removed from office twice due to the lawsuit against her. He served as the Acting Chief Minister during Jayalalithaa's hospitalization in 2016. However, soon after swearing-in, Panneerselvam rebelled against the influence of V. K. Sasikala, a long-time friend and close associate of Jayalalithaa, inside the AIADMK party, and deemed her a threat to his Chief Ministership, exposing the factionalism inside the party. In a meeting of the party's general council held on 29 December 2016, the first meeting after Jayalalithaa's death, Sasikala was appointed as the party's general secretary. On 5 February 2017, all the MLAs of the AIADMK unanimously elected Sasikala as the Legislative Assembly leader of the AIADMK, making her the Chief-Minister-elect officially.

On 6 February 2017, Panneerselvam submitted his resignation letter to then Governor of Tamil Nadu, C. Vidyasagar Rao, who accepted the resignation but instructed him to continue to functioning as Chief Minister "until alternate arrangements are made", awaiting the pending verdict of the 18-year-long trial regarding the disproportionate assets of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala. Panneerselvam also claimed that he was coerced into resignation. Later in the evening, Sasikala met the Governor and laid claims to the Chief Ministership, by submitting the list of AIADMK legislators who back her. Reports stated Sasikala had those MLAs sequestered at a resort in South Chennai.

On 14 February 2017, the Supreme Court of India pronounced Sasikala and her relatives guilty of criminally conspiring, laundering and amassing illicit wealth worth about ₹66.44 crore (equivalent to ₹292 crore or US$34 million in 2019) in the 1990s, and sentenced them to serve a four-year jail term at Central Prison, Bangalore, giving the convicts 24 hours to surrender. This restored in toto her earlier conviction in the case delivered on 27 September 2014. Proceedings against Jayalalithaa had been abated and dismissed on account of her death. The conviction effectively ended Sasikala's Chief Ministerial ambitions.

Following Sasikala's conviction, the Governor rejected her claims to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. In her ticking 24-hour surrender time-limit and capacity as the general secretary of the AIADMK, Sasikala convened the party's MLAs, who unanimously elected Edappadi K. Palaniswami, a then supporter of Sasikala, as the new Chief Minister. She also appointed her nephew and former treasurer of the party, T. T. V. Dhinakaran, as the party's deputy general secretary. Palaniswami as sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu the next day, replacing Panneerselvam.

Merger of AIADMK factions

On 23 March 2017, the Election commission of India designated the two factions separately; Panneerselvam's faction known as "AIADMK (PURATCHI THALAIVI AMMA)", while Dhinakaran-Palaniswami's faction known as "AIADMK (AMMA)". By-polls were announced at the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency, which was vacated due to Jayalalithaa's death. Dhinakaran was named candidate by his faction. However, the Election Commission canceled the by-polls after evidence of large-scale bribing by the ruling AIADMK (AMMA) surfaced. On 17 April 2017, Delhi Police registered a case against Dhinakaran for allegedly attempting to bribe the Election Commission into giving the AIADMK's significant Two Leaves symbol to his faction. Dhinakaran was granted bail on the grounds that the police failed to identify the bribed officer.

In the following months, the Chief Minister had a fallout with Dhinakaran. Palaniswami pronounced Dhinakaran's appointment as deputy general secretary "invalid" on 17 August 2017, and ousted him from the party. On 21 August 2017, it was reported that the Paneerselvam faction of AIADMK had decided to merge back with the Palaniswami faction, under the terms that Sasikala would be expelled from the party. On 21 August 2017, both Palaniswami and Paneerselvam factions of the AIADMK reunited, with the leaders assuming co-leadership of the party. Panneerselvam sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu and the coordinator of the AIADMK. Palaniswami was dubbed the deputy coordinator of the party. Mainstream media and publications suspected the involvement of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party of the Union Government of India, in the AIADMK's merger. This marked the first time the BJP began to play an influential role in the Tamil Nadu politics, acting as the mediator that united the two factions. Dhinakaran and his supporters continued to dub themselves the "real AIADMK".

Withdrawal of support from government

On 22 August 2017, 18 MLAs of the AIADMK pledged allegiance to Dhinakaran and submitted letters to the Governor, expressing lack of confidence in Palaniswami and withdrawing their support to the Palaniswami-led government. Immediately, those MLAs were expelled from the AIADMK. The Speaker of the fifteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, P. Dhanapal, also disqualified those MLAs from their offices, citing the Constitution Act of 1985, which prevents the instability caused by democratically elected representatives in India's legislatures shifting allegiance from the parties they supported at the time of election, or disobeying their parties' decisions at critical times, by rendering their seats vacant. This resulted in a long legal battle, at the end of which, the Madras High Court, the highest court of Tamil Nadu, gave a verdict in the Speaker's favour and confirmed the disqualification of the 19 legislators. Following these events, Sasikala was expelled from the party on 12 September 2017, with her position as interim general secretary disputed and abolished. Instead, the late Jayalalithaa was named the eternal general secretary of AIADMK.

On 23 November 2017, the Election Commission of India granted the Two Leaves symbol to the Palaniswami-Panneerselvam led AIADMK, authorizing the faction as the original AIADMK, and announced by-polls to the vacant seat of Radhakrishnan Nagar on 21 December 2017. Dhinakaran contested in the constituency as an independent candidate, and won the election with a huge margin, with around 40,000 votes more than his closest competitor. He became the first independent candidate in Tamil Nadu history to win a bypoll, claiming 50.32% of the total votes, defeating the ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK.

Rise of Stalin

After Karunanidhi's demise on 7 August 2018, Karunanidhi's son and political heir M. K. Stalin, who has served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Mayor of Chennai, became the unquestioned president of the DMK. The Election Commission of India announced by-polls to 24 vacant seats in the state, alongside the 2019 Indian parliamentary elections, which elects 543 members across India to its lower house, the Lok Sabha. The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (nationally, United Progressive Alliance headed by the Indian National Congress) swept Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha elections, winning a landslide 38 seats out of the state's 39 parliamentary constituencies. The AIADMK, which contested the election in an alliance with the BJP and the regional DMDK, won only one seat (Theni). This marked a huge shift from the 2014 parliamentary elections, in which the AIADMK had won 37 seats solo, whereas the NDA won two and the DMK none. In the by-polls, out of the 24 formerly AIADMK seats in the state assembly, the Stalin-led DMK won over 13 seats while the AIADMK won 10, indicating a shift in the political mindset of the state's voters. Although the incumbent AIADMK government lost 13 of its seats to the opposition party, the 10 retained seats (with new MLAs to represent them) were enough to maintain the AIADMK's absolute majority at the Legislative Assembly.

Formation of AMMK

The expulsion of Sasikala and her family from the AIADMK led to the formation of new party, Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), headed by TTV Dhinakaran as the general secretary with the goal of obtaining control of the AIADMK. In January 2021, VK Sasikala was released from jail after completion of her prison time. In February 2021, she announced her intention to actively involve herself in the state's politics. Nevertheless, on 3 March 2021, she announced her decision to quit politics, to everyone's surprise.

Key Issues

In order to improve the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, both the AIADMK and DMK promised jobs in their manifestos. Industries, especially MSMEs, have been hit hard by the slowdown in the economy. The AIADMK-led government approved a sub-quota in MBC of 10.5% for the Vanniyars, who are particularly dominant in northern Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK & BJP also fulfilled the demand of grouping 7 castes under Devendrakula Velalar an agricultural community found in Tamil Nadu. Recent events such as the Thoothukudi protest in 2018 against the district's Sterlite Copper plant and the Kattupalli fishermen's agitation against the expansion of Adani port have also made environmental concerns, especially climate change, a topic of debate in the elections.

Schedule

Event	Date
Date for Nominations	12 March 2021
Last Date for filing Nominations	19 March 2021
Date for scrutiny of nominations	20 March 2021
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures	22 March 2021
Date of poll	6 April 2021
Date of counting	2 May 2021
Date before which the election shall be completed	24 May 2021

Manifestos

Election Manifesto plays a key role in determining the voting behaviour of the voters in the Tamil Nadu Electoral Politics. Enabling people with information about manifestos, promises, and candidate details through technology can ensure that it reaches a huge number of people. Global Shapers Chennai, a non-partisan group powered by the World Economic Forum has released the TN Election Promises 2021 platform. The platform provides the voters with data and insights on the promises made by different parties, constituency-wise candidate background details (assets, education, criminal cases, etc.), and helps them compare the promises by categorizing them into different focus areas such as agriculture, education, etc., to help make an informed voting decision.

Voter statistics

According to the ECI, 62.6 million people were eligible to vote in upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. Sholinganallur assembly has the highest number of eligible voters with 694,845 voters.

Total voters in Tamil Nadu for 2021 election

General electors	Service voters	Overseas voters	Total Voters
62,747,653	72,853	3,243	62,823,749

Total voters in Tamil Nadu for 2021 election by gender

Male Voters	Female Voters	Third Gender Voters	Total Voters
30,995,440	31,940,880	7,192	62,943,512

Parties and alliances

  National Democratic Alliance

Map of the seat sharing arrangement between the parties of the National Democratic Alliance for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.

Party			Symbol	Leader	Contesting Seats
	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	AIADMK		O. Panneerselvam (Chief Coordinator) Edappadi K. Palaniswami (Joint Coordinator)	179
	Pattali Makkal Katchi	PMK		S. Ramadoss	23
	Bharatiya Janata Party	BJP		L. Murugan	20
Parties contesting under AIADMK symbol
	Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)	TMC(M)		G. K. Vasan	6
	Perunthalaivar Makkal Katchi	PTMK		N. R. Dhanapalan	1
	Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam	TMMK		B. John Pandian	1
	Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam	MMK		Sridhar Vandayar	1
	All India Moovendar Munnani Kazhagam	AIMMK		N. Sethuraman	1
	Puratchi Bharatham Katchi	PBK		M. Jaganmoorthy	1
	Pasumpon Desiya Kazhagam	PDK		Jothi Muthuramalingam	1

  Secular Progressive Alliance

Map of the seat sharing arrangement between the parties of the Secular Progressive Alliance for the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.

Party			Symbol	Leader	Contesting Seats
	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	DMK		M. K. Stalin	173
	Indian National Congress	INC		K. S. Alagiri	25
	Communist Party of India	CPI		R. Mutharasan	6
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	CPI(M)		K. Balakrishnan	6
	Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	VCK		Thol. Thirumavalavan	6
	Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	MDMK		Vaiko	6
	Indian Union Muslim League	IUML		K. M. Kader Mohideen	3
	Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi	KMDK		E. R. Eswaran	3
	Manithaneya Makkal Katchi	MMK		M. H. Jawahirullah	2
	All India Forward Bloc	AIFB		P. V. Kathiravan	1
	Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi	TVK		T. Velmurugan	1
	Makkal Viduthalai Katchi	MVK		S. K. Murugavel Rajan	1
	Aathi Thamizhar Peravai	ATP		R. Athiyamaan	1

  AMMK+

Party			Symbol	Leader	Contesting Seats
	Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam	AMMK		T. T. V. Dhinakaran	161
	Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam	DMDK		Vijayakanth	60
	Social Democratic Party of India	SDPI		V. M. S. Mohamed Mubarak	6
	All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	AIMIM		T. S. Vakeel Ahmed	3
	Gokula Makkal Katchi	GMK		M. V. Sekar Yadav	1
	Marudhu Senai Sangam	MSS		Karu. Athi Narayanan	1
	Viduthalai Tamil Puligal Katchi	VTPK		J. Kudanthai Arasan	1
	Makkal Arasu Katchi	MAK		S. Rajinikanth (A) Arunmozhi Varman	1

  Makkal Needhi Maiyam Kootani

Party			Symbol	Leader	Contesting Seats
	Makkal Needhi Maiam	MNM		Kamal Haasan	142
	Indiya Jananayaka Katchi	IJK		T. R. Paarivendhar	40
	All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi	AISMK		R. Sarathkumar	33
	Tamilaga Makkal Jananayaka Katchi	TMJK		K.M. Shareef	9
	Janata Dal (Secular)	JD(S)		H. D. Deve Gowda	3
	Jananayaka Dravidia Munnetra kazhgam	JDMK	Torch light		7

^{^}

Non-aligned parties

Party			Flag	Symbol	Leader	Contesting Seats
	Naam Tamilar Katchi	NTK	File:Naam tamilar katchi flag.jpg		Seeman	234
	Bahujan Samaj Party	BSP			K Armstrong	162
	Puthiya Tamilagam	PTK			K. Krishnasamy	60
	Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation	CPI(ML)L			Dipankar Bhattacharya	12

Campaigning

The DMK went on a campaign tour titled Vidiyalai Nokki Stalinin Kural, which began on 20 December 2020 at Thirukkuvalai, the birthplace of M. Karunanidhi. Palaniswami started the AIADMK's campaign at his hometown, Edappadi, on 19 December 2020.

BJP politician and the 22nd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, addressed a public rally in Coimbatore to support Vanathi Srinivasan on March 31, 2021. The BJP and the Hindu Munnani organized a bike rally where they shouted communal slogans. The BJP supporters also reportedly pelted stones at Muslim shops in the area. BJP candidate Vanathi Srinivasan described the stone-pelting incident as a minor incident while MNM president Kamal Haasan said that "riot specialists must be defeated through unity".

Opinion polls

Election outcome projections as surveyed by various agencies prior to the election day

Date published	Polling agency						style="background:gray; F8F9FA " |	Lead	Slim margin
		DMK+	AIADMK+	AMMK+	MNM+	NTK	Others
04 Apr 21	Nakkheeran	172	22	–	–	–	–	150	40
02 Apr 21	Thanthi TV	124	52	–	–	–	–	72	58
02 Apr 21	Malai Murasu	151	54	1	1	0	–	97	27
31 Mar 21	Junior Vikatan	163	52	0	1	0	–	111	18
26 Mar 21	Patriotic Voter	143	82	2-3	1-3	0-3	–	61	18
24 Mar 21	MCV Network - Spick Media	158	74	02	00	00	–	84
24 Mar 21	Times Now - CVoter	177	49	3	3	–	2	128	–
22 Mar 21	Puthiya Thalaimurai - APT	151 - 158	76 - 83	–	–	–	–	68- 82	–
15 Mar 21	ABP News - CVoter	161 - 169	53 - 61	1 - 5	2 - 6	–	3 - 7	100 - 116	–
8 Mar 21	Times Now- CVoter	158	65	–	–	–	–	88- 104	–
27 Feb 21	ABP News- CVoter	154 - 162	58 - 66	1 - 5	2 - 6	–	5 - 9	88- 104	–
18 Jan 21	ABP News- CVoter	158 - 166	60 - 68	2 - 6	0 - 4	–	0 - 4	90 - 106	–

Candidates

Candidates from recognized parties contested in 234 constituencies on 6 April. The Indian National Congress candidate for Srivilliputhur assembly constituency, P. S. W. Madhava Rao, died on 11 April 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19.

Voting

The state recorded 72.81% voter turnout, which is 2% lesser than the preceding 2016 election. Karur district recorded the highest voter turnout amongst the state's districts, with 83.92%. Chennai district turned out the lowest (59.06%), as usual.

Voter turnout by districts

NO	District name	Percentage
1	Thiruvallur	70.56%
2	Chennai	59.06%
3	Kanchipuram	71.98%
4	Chengalpattu	68.18%
5	Ranipet	77.92%
6	Vellore	73.73%
7	Thirupattur	77.33%
8	Krishnagiri	77.30%
9	Dharmapuri	82.35%
10	Thiruvannamalai	78.62%
11	Villupuram	78.56%
12	Kallakurichi	80.14%
13	Salem	79.22%
14	Namakkal	79.72%
15	Erode	77.07%
16	Thiruppur	70.12%
17	Nilgris	69.68%
18	Coimbatore	68.70%
19	Dindigul	77.13%
20	Karur	83.92%
21	Thiruchirapalli	73.79%
22	Perambalur	79.09%
23	Ariyalur	82.47%
24	Cuddalore	76.50%
25	Nagapattinam	65.48%
26	Thiruvarur	76.53%
27	Thanjavur	74.13%
28	Pudukottai	76.41%
29	Sivaganga	68.94%
30	Madurai	70.33%
31	Theni	71.75%
32	Virudhunagar	73.77%
33	Ramanathapuram	69.60%
34	Thoothukudi	70.20%
35	Tenkasi	72.63%
36	Tirunelveli	66.65%
37	Kanniyakumari	68.67%

Repoll

The Election Commission of India, on 13 April 2021, declared the polling held at the polling station No. 92 in the Velachery assembly constituency "void" under 58 (1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The commission ordered a repoll in the station on the basis of a report submitted by the returning officers and observers. Fresh voting was conducted on 17 April 2021 between 7 am and 7 pm IST. The repoll follows the suspension of three Greater Chennai Corporation officials for transporting two EVMs and one VVPAT machine of booth number 92 on a two-wheeler in the Velachery-Tharamani road.

Exit polls

The Election Commission on March 24, banned the publication of any exit poll from 27 March till 7:30 PM of 29 April to prevent any influence on voters in the general election of West Bengal and by-elections in other states. On April 26, the ban period was advanced to 7:00 PM.

Election outcome projections as surveyed by agencies after the election day

Date published	Polling agency						style="background:gray; F8F9FA " |	Lead	Slim margin
		DMK+	AIADMK+	AMMK+	MNM+	NTK	Others
29 Apr 21	Republic TV - CNX	160 - 170	58 - 68	4 - 6	0 - 2	–	–	92 - 112	–
	ABP/Times Now - CVoter	160 - 172	58 - 70	0 - 4	0 - 2	0 - 3		90 - 114	–
	India Today - Axis My India	175 - 195	38 - 54	1 - 2	0 - 2	0 - 2	0 - 1	121 - 157	–
	India Ahead - P MARQ	165 - 190	40 - 65	1 - 3	1 - 6			100 - 150	–
	News24 - Today's Chanakya	164 - 186	46 - 68	0 - 6				96 - 140	–
	TV9 - Polstrat	143 - 153	75 - 85	2 - 12				58 - 78	_
	Shining India News	147 - 177	59 - 81	0 - 2				66 - 118	_
	Patriotic Voter	153	74	1	3	3		72	–
	Democracy Times Network	181 - 193	44 - 52	1 - 2	0 - 1	0	–	129 - 149	–
	SPICK NEWS - MCV Network	146	85	2	1	0	–	61	–
	Thanthi TV	133	68	–	–	–	–	65	33

Results

The results were announced by the Election Commission of India on 2 May 2021, starting at 9 AM IST. The DMK won 133 constituencies on its own, receiving an absolute majority in the sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, whereas its SPA alliance saw victory in a total of 159 constituencies. Meanwhile, the NDA alliance captured 75 constituencies, out of which the AIADMK had won 66. Other parties, alliances, and independent candidates did not secure any seats. After spending a decade as the opposition party, the DMK won Tamil Nadu from the AIADMK, which reigned the state for two consecutive terms (2011-2021). The AIADMK assumed the position of the opposition party at the sixteenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Seat won by party

NDA		Seats	Change	SPA		Seats	Change
AIADMK		66	-70	DMK		133	+44
PMK		5	+5	INC		18	+10
BJP		4	+4	VCK		4	+4
				CPI		2	+2
				CPI(M)		2	+2
Total		75	-61	Total		159	+61

Alliance wise votes

Alliance	Votes	%
Secular Progressive Alliance	20,982,088	45.38%
National Democratic Alliance	18,363,499	39.72%
Naam Tamilar Katchi	29,60,000	6.8%
AMMK+	1,289,276	2.79%
People 's First Alliance	1,314,032	2.72%

Results by alliance

  SPA (45.38%)

  NDA (39.72%)

Popular vote

159	75
SPA	NDA

Alliance		Party		Votes		Seats
				Votes	%	Contested	Won
	SPA		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	17,430,179	37.70	188	133
			Indian National Congress	1,976,527	4.28	25	18
			Communist Party of India	504,537	1.09	6	2
			Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	457,763	0.99	6	4
			Communist Party of India (Marxist)	390,819	0.85	6	2
			Indian Union Muslim League	222,263	0.48	3	0
	NDA		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	15,391,055	33.29	191	66
			Pattali Makkal Katchi	1,758,774	3.80	23	5
			Bharatiya Janata Party	1,213,670	2.62	20	4
	None		Naam Tamilar Katchi	3,042,307	6.58	234	0
	AMMK+		Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam	1,085,985	2.35	171	0
			Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam	200,157	0.48	60	0
			All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	3,134	0.01	3	0
	PFA		Makkal Needhi Maiam	1,210,667	2.62	183	0
			Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi	39,288	0.08	38	0
			All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi	7,650	0.02	4	0
			Janata Dal (Secular)	1,189	0.01	3	0
	None		Others	955,161	2.07	2834	0
			None of the above	345,591	0.75	-	0
Total				46,236,716	100.00	3998	234
Valid votes				46,236,716	99.77
Invalid votes				107,874	0.23
Votes cast / turnout				46,344,590	73.63
Abstentions				16,599,103	26.37
Registered voters				62,943,693

  SPA (45.38%)

  NDA (39.72%)

  Naam Tamilar Katchi (6.58%)

  AMMK+ (2.79%)

  MNM+ (2.72%)

By district

Number of seats secured by the alliances in each district of Tamil Nadu

District	Total Seats	SPA	NDA	OTH
Thiruvallur	10	10	0	0
Chennai	16	16	0	0
Kancheepuram	4	4	0	0
Chengalpattu	7	6	1	0
Ranipet	4	3	1	0
Vellore	5	4	1	0
Thirupattur	4	3	1	0
Krishnagiri	6	3	3	0
Dharmapuri	5	0	5	0
Thiruvanamalai	8	6	2	0
Villupuram	7	4	3	0
Kallakurichi	4	3	1	0
Salem	11	1	10	0
Namakkal	6	4	2	0
Erode	8	3	5	0
Nilgiris	3	2	1	0
Thiruppur	8	3	5	0
Coimbatore	10	0	10	0
Dindigal	7	4	3	0
Karur	4	4	0	0
Tiruchirapalli	9	9	0	0
Perambalur	2	2	0	0
Ariyalur	2	2	0	0
Cuddalore	9	7	2	0
Mayiladuthurai	3	3	0	0
Nagapattinam	3	2	1	0
Thiruvarur	4	3	1	0
Thanjavur	8	7	1	0
Pudukottai	6	5	1	0
Sivaganga	4	3	1	0
Madurai	10	5	5	0
Theni	4	3	1	0
Virudhunagar	7	6	1	0
Ramanathapuram	4	4	0	0
Thoothukudi	6	5	1	0
Tenkasi	5	3	2	0
Tirunelveli	5	3	2	0
Kanyakumari	6	4	2	0
Total	234	159	75	0

By constituency

• Winner, runner-up, voter turnout, and victory margin in every constituency

Assembly Constituency		Winner					Runner Up					Margin
#k	Name	Candidate	Party		Votes	%	Candidate	Party		Votes	%
Thiruvallur District
1	Gummidipoondi	Govindarajan T. J.		DMK	126,452	56.94	Prakash M		PMK	75,514	34	50,938
2	Ponneri (SC)	Durai. Chandrasekar		INC	94,528	44.94	P. Balaraman		AIADMK	84,839	40.33	9,689
3	Tiruttani	S. Chandran		DMK	120,314	51.72	G. Hari		AIADMK	91,061	39.15	29,253
4	Thiruvallur	Raajendran. V. G		DMK	107,709	50.27	Ramanah BE VEE		AIADMK	85,008	39.68	22,701
5	Poonamallee (SC)	A. Krishnaswamy		DMK	149,578	56.72	S. X. Rajamannar		PMK	55,468	21.03	94,110
6	Avadi	S. M. Nasar		DMK	150,287	49.94	K. Pandiarajan		AIADMK	95,012	31.57	55,275
7	Maduravoyal	K.Ganapathy		DMK	121,298	44.29	P. Benjamin		AIADMK	89,577	32.71	31,721
8	Ambattur	Joseph Samuel		DMK	114,554	47.67	Alexander. V		AIADMK	72,408	30.13	42,146
9	Madavaram	Sudharsanam. S		DMK	151,485	50.04	Moorthy. V		AIADMK	94,414	31.19	57,071
10	Thiruvottiyur	K. P. Shankar		DMK	88,185	44.09	K. Kuppan		AIADMK	50,524	25.26	37,661
Chennai District
11	Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar	J. J. Ebenezer		DMK	95,763	51.2	Raajesh. R. S		AIADMK	53,284	28.49	42,479
12	Perambur	Shekar R.D.		DMK	105,267	52.53	Dhanapalan N.R		AIADMK	50,291	25.1	54,976
13	Kolathur	M. K. Stalin		DMK	105,522	60.86	Aadhi Rajaram		AIADMK	35,138	20.27	70,384
14	Villivakkam	A.Vetriazhagan		DMK	76,127	52.83	J.C.D.Prabhakar		AIADMK	38,890	26.99	37,237
15	Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar (SC)	Thayagam Kavi		DMK	81,727	61.13	Kalyani P.L.		AIADMK	26,714	19.98	55,013
16	Egmore (SC)	I. Paranthamen		DMK	68,832	57.71	B. John Pandian		AIADMK	30,064	25.21	38,768
17	Royapuram	Idreams Moorthy		DMK	64,424	53.16	D. Jayakumar		AIADMK	36,645	30.24	27,779
18	Harbour	P. K. Sekar Babu		DMK	59,317	58.35	Vinoj P. Selvam		BJP	32,043	31.52	27,274
19	Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni	Udhayanidhi Stalin		DMK	93,285	67.89	A. V. A. Kassali		PMK	23,930	17.42	69,355
20	Thousand Lights	Dr. N. Ezhilan		DMK	49,080	53.88	Khushbu		BJP	25,079	27.53	24,001
21	Anna Nagar	M. K. Mohan		DMK	80,054	48.49	S. Gokula Indira		AIADMK	52,609	31.87	27,445
22	Virugampakkam	Prabakar Raja		DMK	74,351	43.97	Virugai V. N. Ravi		AIADMK	55,984	33.11	18,367
23	Saidapet	Ma.Subramanian		DMK	80,194	50.02	S. Duraisamy		AIADMK	50,786	31.68	29,408
24	Thiyagaraya Nagar	J. Karunanidhi		DMK	56,035	40.57	B. Sathyanarayanan		AIADMK	55,898	40.47	137
25	Mylapore	T. Velu		DMK	68,392	44.58	R. Nataraj		AIADMK	55,759	36.34	12,633
26	Velachery	JMH Aassan Maulaana		INC	68,493	38.76	M. K. Ashok		AIADMK	64,141	36.3	4,352
Kanchipuram District
27	Shozhinganallur	S. Aravind Ramesh		DMK	171,558	44.18	K. P. Kandan		AIADMK	136,153	35.06	35,405
28	Alandur	T. M. Anbarasan		DMK	116,785	49.12	B. Valarmathi		AIADMK	76,214	32.06	40,571
29	Sriperumbudur (SC)	Selvaperunthagai. K		INC	115,353	43.65	K. Palani		AIADMK	104,474	39.53	10,879
30	Pallavaram	I. Karunanithi		DMK	126,427	47.49	S. Rajendran		AIADMK	88,646	33.3	37,781
31	Tambaram	S. R. Raja		DMK	116,840	46.93	T. K. M. Chinnayya		AIADMK	80,016	32.14	36,824
32	Chengalpattu	M. Varalakshmi		DMK	130,573	47.64	M. Gajendran		AIADMK	103,908	37.91	26,665
33	Thiruporur	S. S. Balaji		VCK	93,954	41.44	Thirukachur Arumugam		PMK	92,007	40.58	1,947
34	Cheyyur (SC)	Panaiyur M. Babu		VCK	82,750	46.2	S. Kanitha Sampath		AIADMK	78,708	43.94	4,042
35	Maduranthakam (SC)	Maragatham Kumaravel		AIADMK	86,646	46.62	Mallai C. E. Sathya		MDMK	83,076	44.7	3,570
Chengalpattu District
36	Uthiramerur	K. Sundar		DMK	93,427	44.38	Somasundaram .V		AIADMK	91,805	43.61	1,622
37	Kancheepuram	C. V. M. P. Ezhilarasan		DMK	103,235	44.77	P. Mageshkumar		PMK	91,236	39.71	11,999
Ranipet District
38	Arakkonam (SC)	S. Ravi		AIADMK	85,399	49.82	Gowthama Sannah.J		VCK	58,230	33.97	27,169
39	Sholingur	A. M. Munirathinam		INC	110,228	49.18	A. M. Krishnan		PMK	83,530	37.27	24,878
41	Ranipet	R. Gandhi		DMK	103,291	49.79	S. M. Sukumar		AIADMK	86,793	41.84	16,498
42	Arcot	J. L. Eswarappan		DMK	103,885	49.52	K. L. Elavazhagan		PMK	83,927	40.01	19,958
Vellore District
40	Katpadi	Durai Murugan		DMK	85,140	45.71	V. Ramu		AIADMK	84,394	45.31	746
43	Vellore	P. Karthikeyan		DMK	84,299	46.86	S. R. K. Appu		AIADMK	75,118	41.76	9,181
44	Anaikattu	A. P. Nandakumar		DMK	95,159	48.11	D. Velazhagan		AIADMK	88,799	44.89	6,360
45	Kilvaithinankuppam (SC)	M. Jaganmoorthy		AIADMK (PBK)	84,579	48.57	K. Seetharaman		DMK	73,997	42.5	10,582
46	Gudiyattam (SC)	V. Amalu		DMK	100,412	47.45	G. Paridha		AIADMK	93,511	44.19	6,901
Tirupathur District
47	Vaniyambadi	G Sendhil Kumar		AIADMK	88,018	46.33	N. Mohammad Nayeem		IUML	83,114	43.74	4,904
48	Ambur	A. C. Vilwanathan		DMK	90,476	50.86	K. Nazar Mohammed		AIADMK	70,244	39.49	20,232
49	Jolarpet	K. Devaraji		DMK	89,490	45.57	K. C. Veeramani		AIADMK	88,399	45.02	1,091
50	Tirupattur (Vellore)	A. Nallathambi		DMK	96,522	51.91	T. K. Raja		PMK	68,282	36.72	28,240
Krishnagiri District
51	Uthangarai (SC)	T. M. Tamilselvam		AIADMK	99,675	52.96	J. S. Arumugam		INC	71,288	37.87	28,387
52	Bargur	D. Mathiazhagan		DMK	97,256	49.17	A. Krishnan		AIADMK	84,642	42.8	12,614
53	Krishnagiri	K. Ashok Kumar		AIADMK	96,050	45.38	T. Senguttuvan		DMK	95,256	45.01	794
54	Veppanahalli	K. P. Munusamy		AIADMK	94,104	45.87	P. Murugan		DMK	91,050	44.38	3,054
55	Hosur	Y. Prakash		DMK	118,231	47.65	S. Jyothi Balakrishna Reddy		AIADMK	105,864	42.67	12,367
56	Thalli	T. Ramachandran		CPI	120,641	62.18	Dr. C. Nagesh Kumar		BJP	64,415	33.2	56,226
Dharmapuri District
57	Palacode	K. P. Anbalagan		AIADMK	110,070	53.28	P. K. Murugan		DMK	81,970	39.68	28,100
58	Pennagaram	G. K. Mani		PMK	106,123	50.46	P. N. P. Inbasekaran		DMK	84,937	40.39	21,186
59	Dharmapuri	S. P. Venkateswaran		PMK	105,630	48.6	Thadangam P. Subramani		DMK	78,770	36.24	26,860
60	Pappireddippatti	A. Govindasamy		AIADMK	114,507	51.81	M. Prabhu Rajasekar		DMK	77,564	35.1	36,943
61	Harur (SC)	V. Sampathkumar		AIADMK	99,061	49.89	A. Kumar		CPI(M)	68,699	34.6	30,362
Tiruvannamalai District
62	Chengam (SC)	M. P. Giri		DMK	108,081	48.26	M. S. Nainakannu		AIADMK	96,511	43.09	11,570
63	Tiruvannamalai	E. V. Velu		DMK	137,876	66.02	S. Thanigaivel		BJP	43,203	20.69	94,673
64	Kilpennathur	K. Pitchandi		DMK	104,675	51.34	K. Selvakumar		PMK	77,888	38.2	26,787
65	Kalasapakkam	P. S. T. Saravanan		DMK	94,134	47.92	V. Panneerselvam		AIADMK	84,912	43.23	9,222
66	Polur	S. S. Krishnamoorthy		AIADMK	97,732	48.38	K. V. Sekaran		DMK	88,007	43.57	9,725
67	Arani	Sevvoor S. Ramachandran		AIADMK	102,961	46.5	S. S. Anbazhagan		DMK	99,833	45.09	3,128
68	Cheyyar	O. Jothi		DMK	102,460	47.78	K. Mohan		AIADMK	90,189	42.05	12,771
69	Vandavasi (SC)	S. Ambeth Kumar		DMK	102,064	54.88	S. Murali Shankar		PMK	66,111	35.55	35,953
Villupuram District
70	Gingee	K. S. Masthan		DMK	109,625	52.99	M. P. S. Rajendran		PMK	73,822	35.68	35,803
71	Mailam	C. Sivakumar		PMK	81,044	45.79	Dr. R. Masilamani		DMK	78,814	44.53	2,230
72	Tindivanam	P. Arjunan		AIADMK	87,152	47.74	P. Seethapathy		DMK	77,399	42.4	9,753
73	Vanur (SC)	M. Chakrapani		AIADMK	92,219	50.61	Vanni Arasu		VCK	70,492	38.69	21,727
74	Villupuram	R. Lakshmanan		DMK	102,271	49.92	C. V. Shanmugam		AIADMK	87,403	42.66	14,868
75	Vikravandi	N. Pugazhenthi		DMK	93,730	48.81	R. Muthamilselvan		AIADMK	84,157	43.47	9,573
76	Tirukkoyilur	K. Ponmudy		DMK	110,980	56.56	V. A. T. Kalivaradhan		BJP	51,300	26.14	59,680
Kallakurichi District
77	Ulundurpettai	A. J. Manikannan		DMK	115,451	47.15	R. Kumaraguru		AIADMK	110,195	45	5,256
78	Rishivandiyam	Vasantham K. Karthikeyan		DMK	113,912	52.96	A. Santhosh		AIADMK	72,184	33.56	41,728
79	Sankarapuram	T. Udhayasuriyan		DMK	121,186	56.16	Dr. G. Raja		PMK	75,223	34.86	45,963
80	Kallakurichi (SC)	M. Senthilkumar		AIADMK	110,643	48.99	K. I. Manirathinam		INC	84,752	37.52	25,891
Salem District
81	Gangavalli (SC)	A. Nallathambi		AIADMK	89,568	48.02	J. Rekha Priyadarshini		DMK	82,207	44.08	7,361
82	Attur (SC)	A. P. Jayasankaran		AIADMK	95,308	47.72	K. Chinnadurai		DMK	87,051	43.58	8,257
83	Yercaud (ST)	G. Chitra		AIADMK	121,561	50.88	C. Tamilselvan		DMK	95,606	40.02	25,955
84	Omalur	R. Mani		AIADMK	142,488	57.22	Rangarajan Mohan Kumaramangalam		INC	87,194	35.01	55,294
85	Mettur	S. Sathasivam		PMK	97,055	44.43	S Srinivasa Perumal		DMK	96,399	44.13	656
86	Edapadi	Edappadi K. Palaniswami		AIADMK	163,154	65.97	Sampath Kumar		DMK	69,352	28.04	93,802
87	Sankari	S. Sundararajan		AIADMK	115,472	49.72	K. M. Rajesh		DMK	95,427	41.09	20,045
88	Salem (West)	Arul Ramadoss		PMK	105,483	48.69	A. Rajendran		DMK	83,984	38.77	21,499
89	Salem (North)	R. Rajendran		DMK	93,432	46.17	G. Venkatachalam		AIADMK	85,844	42.42	7,588
90	Salem (South)	E. Balasubramanian		AIADMK	97,506	48.76	A. S. Saravanan		DMK	74,897	37.45	22,609
91	Veerapandi	M. Raja		AIADMK	111,682	49.92	Dr. A. K. Tharun		DMK	91,787	41.03	19,895
Namakkal District
92	Rasipuram (SC)	M. Mathiventhan		DMK	90,727	46.08	V. Saroja		AIADMK	88,775	45.09	1,952
93	Senthamangalam (ST)	K. Ponnusamy		DMK	90,681	45.51	S. Chandran		AIADMK	80,188	40.25	10,493
94	Namakkal	P. Ramalingam		DMK	106,494	51.51	K. P. P. Baskar		AIADMK	78,633	38.03	27,861
95	Paramathi-Velur	S. Sekar		AIADMK	86,034	46.83	K. S. Moorthy		DMK	78,372	42.66	7,662
96	Tiruchengodu	E. R. Eswaran		DMK (KMDK)	81,688	44.23	Pon. Saraswathi		AIADMK	78,826	42.69	2,862
97	Kumarapalayam	P. Thangamani		AIADMK	100,800	49.92	M. Venkatachalam		DMK	69,154	34.25	31,646
Erode District
98	Erode (East)	E. Thirumahan Everaa		INC	67,300	44.27	M. Yuvaraja		AIADMK (TMC(M))	58,396	38.41	8,904
99	Erode (West)	S. Muthusamy		DMK	100,757	49.01	K. V. Ramalingam		AIADMK	78,668	38.27	22,089
100	Modakkurichi	Dr. C.K. Saraswathi		BJP	78,125	42.96	Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan		DMK	77,844	42.81	281
Tiruppur District
101	Dharapuram (SC)	N. Kayalvizhi		DMK	89,986	46.39	L. Murugan		BJP	88,593	45.67	1,393
102	Kangayam	M. P. Saminathan		DMK	94,197	47.14	A. S. Ramalingam		AIADMK	86,866	43.47	7,331
Erode District
103	Perundurai	S. Jayakumar		AIADMK	85,125	44.84	K. K. C. Balu		DMK	70,618	37.2	14,507
104	Bhavani	K. C. Karuppannan		AIADMK	100,915	50.11	K. P. Durairaj		DMK	78,392	38.93	22,523
105	Anthiyur	A. G. Venkatachalam		DMK	79,096	44.84	K. S. Shanmugavel		AIADMK	77,821	44.12	1,275
106	Gobichettipalayam	K. A. Sengottaiyan		AIADMK	108,608	50.68	G. V. Manimaaran		DMK	80,045	37.36	28,563
107	Bhavanisagar (SC)	A. Bannari		AIADMK	99,181	49.45	P. L. Sundaram		CPI	83,173	41.47	16,008
Nilgiris District
108	Udhagamandalam	R. Ganesh		INC	65,530	46.44	M. Bhojarajan		BJP	60,182	42.65	5,348
109	Gudalur (SC)	Pon. Jayaseelan		AIADMK	64,496	46.65	S. Kasilingam		DMK	62,551	45.24	1,945
110	Coonoor	K. Ramachandran		DMK	61,820	45.49	Kappachi D. Vinoth		AIADMK	57,715	42.47	4,105
Coimbatore District
111	Mettupalayam	A. K. Selvaraj		AIADMK	105231	46.75	T R Shanmuga Sundaram		DMK	102775	45.66	2,456
Tiruppur District
112	Avanashi (SC)	P. Dhanapal		AIADMK	117,284	55.16	R. Athiyamaan		DMK (ATP)	66,382	31.22	50,982
113	Tiruppur (North)	K. N. Vijayakumar		AIADMK	1,13,384	47.62	Ravi @ Subramanian M		CPI	73,282	30.78	40,102
114	Tiruppur (South)	K. Selvaraj		DMK	75,535	43.31	Gunasekaran S		AIADMK	70,826	40.61	4,709
115	Palladam	M. S. M. Anandan		AIADMK	126,903	48.53	K. Muthurathinam		DMK (MDMK)	94,212	36.03	32,691
Coimbatore District
116	Sulur	V. P. Kandasamy		AIADMK	118,968	49.23	Premier Selvam (A) M. Kalichamy		DMK	87,036	36.02	32,302
117	Kavundampalayam	P. R. G. Arunkumar		AIADMK	135,669	43.78	R Krishnan		DMK	1,25,893	40.62	9,776
118	Coimbatore (North)	Amman K. Arjunan		AIADMK	81,454	40.16	V M Shamuga Sundaram		DMK	77,453	38.19	4,001
119	Thondamuthur	S. P. Velumani		AIADMK	124,225	53.89	Karthikeya Sivasenapathy		DMK	82,595	35.83	41,630
120	Coimbatore (South)	Vanathi Srinivasan		BJP	53,209	34.38	Kamal Haasan		MNM	51,481	33.26	1,728
121	Singanallur	K. R. Jayaram		AIADMK	81,244	40.22	Karthik N		DMK	70,390	34.84	10,854
122	Kinathukadavu	S. Damodaran		AIADMK	101,537	43.68	Kuruchi Prabhakaran		DMK	100,442	43.21	1,095
123	Pollachi	Pollachi V. Jayaraman		AIADMK	80,567	45.44	K Varadharajan		DMK	78,842	44.47	1,725
124	Valparai (SC)	Amul Kandasami T K		AIADMK	71,672	49.37	Arumugam M		CPI	59,449	40.95	12,223
Tiruppur District
125	Udumalaipettai	Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan		AIADMK	96,893	49.85	K. Thennarsu		INC	74,998	38.59	21,895
126	Madathukulam	C. Mahendran		AIADMK	84,313	46.35	Jayaramakrishnan		DMK	77,875	42.81	6,438
Dindigul District
127	Palani	I. P. Senthil Kumar		DMK	108,566	52.86	K. Ravi Manoharan		AIADMK	78,510	38.23	30,056
128	Oddanchatram	R. Sakkarapani		DMK	109,970	54.51	N. P. Nataraj		AIADMK	81,228	40.26	28,742
129	Athoor	I. Periyasamy		DMK	165,809	72.11	M Thilagabama		PMK	30,238	13.15	135,571
130	Nilakottai (SC)	S. Thenmozhi		AIADMK	91,461	49.49	S. K. Murugavel Rajan		DMK (MVK)	63,843	34.55	27,618
131	Natham	Natham R. Viswanathan		AIADMK	107,762	47.84	M. A. Andi Ambalam		DMK	95,830	42.54	11,932
132	Dindigul	Dindigul C. Sreenivaasan		AIADMK	90,545	46.83	N. Pandi		CPI(M)	72,848	34.34	17,697
133	Vedasandur	S. Gandhirajan		DMK	106,481	49.97	V. P. B. Paramasivam		AIADMK	88,928	41.73	17,553
Karur District
134	Aravakurichi	Monjanoor R. Elango		DMK	93,369	52.72	K. Annamalai		BJP	68,553	38.71	24,816
135	Karur	V. Senthilbalaji		DMK	101,757	49.08	M. R. Vijayabhaskar		AIADMK	89,309	43.08	12,448
136	Krishnarayapuram (SC)	K. Sivagama Sundari		DMK	96,540	53.37	N. Muthukumar (A) Thanesh		AIADMK	64,915	35.88	29,625
137	Kulithalai	R. Manickam		DMK	100,829	51.06	N. R. Chandrasekar		AIADMK	77,289	39.14	23,540
Tiruchirappalli District
138	Manapaarai	Abdul Samad. P		DMK (MMK)	98,077	44.23	Chandraseker. R		AIADMK	85,834	38.71	12,243
139	Srirangam	M. Palaniyandi		DMK	113,904	47.41	K. P. Krishnan		AIADMK	93,989	39.12	19,915
140	Tiruchirappalli (West)	K. N. Nehru		DMK	118,133	64.52	V. Padmanathan		AIADMK	33,024	18.04	85,109
141	Tiruchirappalli (East)	Inigo Irudhayaraj .S		DMK	94,302	54.56	Vellamandi N. Natarajan		AIADMK	40,505	23.43	53,797
142	Thiruverumbur	Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi		DMK	105,424	53.51	P. Kumar		AIADMK	55,727	28.29	49,697
143	Lalgudi	A. Soundara Pandian		DMK	84,914	48.59	D. R. Dharmarajè		AIADMK (TMC(M))	67,965	38.89	16,949
144	Manachanallur	C. Kathiravan		DMK	116,334	59.14	M. Paranjothi		AIADMK	56,716	28.83	59,618
145	Musiri	N. Thiyagarajan		DMK	90,624	50.43	M. Selvarasu		AIADMK	63,788	35.5	26,836
146	Thuraiyur (SC)	S. Stalin Kumar		DMK	87,786	49.91	T. Indira Gandhi		AIADMK	65,715	37.36	22,071
Perambalur District
147	Perambalur (SC)	M. Prabaharan		DMK	122,090	50.87	R. Thamizhselvan		AIADMK	90,325	37.94	31,765
148	Kunnam	S. S. Sivasankar		DMK	1,03,922	47.26	R. T. Ramachandran		AIADMK	97,593	44.38	6,329
Ariyalur District
149	Ariyalur	K. Chinnappa		DMK (MDMK)	103,975	46.16	Thamarai S. Rajendran		AIADMK	100,741	44.73	3,234
150	Jayankondam	K. S. K. Kannan		DMK	99,529	46	K. Balu		PMK	94,077	43.48	5,452
Cuddalore District
151	Tittakudi (SC)	C. V. Ganesan		DMK	83,726	49.78	D. Periyasamy		BJP	62,163	36.96	21,563
152	Vriddhachalam	M. R. R. Radhakrishnan		INC	77,064	39.17	J. Karthikeyan		PMK	76,202	38.73	862
153	Neyveli	Saba Rajendran		DMK	75,177	45.8	K. Jagan		PMK	74,200	45.21	977
154	Panruti	T. Velmurugan		DMK (TVK)	93,801	47.6	R. Rajendran		AIADMK	89,104	45.22	4,697
155	Cuddalore	G. Iyappan		DMK	84,563	46.46	M. C. Sampath		AIADMK	79,412	43.63	5,151
156	Kurinjipadi	M. R. K. Panneerselvam		DMK	1,01,456	51.04	Selvi Ramajayam		AIADMK	83,929	42.22	17,527
157	Bhuvanagiri	A. Arunmozhithevan		AIADMK	96,453	48.92	Durai K. Saravanan		DMK	88,194	44.73	8,259
158	Chidambaram	K. A. Pandian		AIADMK	91,961	50.16	A. S. Abdul Rahman Rabbani		IUML	75,024	40.92	16,937
159	Kattumannarkoil (SC)	M. Sinthanai Selvan		VCK	86,056	49.02	N. Murugumaran		AIADMK	74,608	43	11,448
Mayiladuthurai District
160	Sirkazhi (SC)	M. Panneerselvam		DMK	94,057	49.16	P. V. Bharathi		AIADMK	81,909	42.81	12,148
161	Mayiladuthurai	S. Rajakumar		INC	73,642	42.17	Sithamalli A. Palanisami		PMK	70,900	40.6	2,742
162	Poompuhar	Nivedha M. Murugan		DMK	96,102	46.24	S. Pavunraj		AIADMK	92,803	44.65	3,299
Nagapattinam District
163	Nagapattinam	Aloor Shanavas		VCK	66,281	46.17	Thanga Kathiravan		AIADMK	59,043	41.13	7,238
164	Kilvelur (SC)	Nagai Maali (A) P. Mahalingam		CPI(M)	67,988	47.55	Vadivel Ravanan		PMK	51,003	35.67	16,985
165	Vedaranyam	O. S. Manian		AIADMK	78,719	49.8	S. K. Vetharathinam		DMK	66,390	42	12,329
Tiruvarur District
166	Thiruthuraipoondi (SC)	K. Marimuthu		CPI	97,092	52.23	C. Suresh Kumar		AIADMK	67,024	36.06	30,068
167	Mannargudi	Dr. T. R. B. Rajaa		DMK	87,172	45.11	Siva. Rajamanickam		AlADMK	49,779	25.76	37,393
168	Thiruvarur	K. Poondi Kalaivanan		DMK	108,906	52.29	A. N. R. Panneerselvam		AIADMK	57,732	27.72	51,174
169	Nannilam	R. Kamaraj		AIADMK	103,637	46.7	S. Jothiraman		DMK	99,213	44.7	4,424
Thanjavur District
170	Thiruvidaimarudur (SC)	Govi. Chezhiyan		DMK	95,763	48.26	Union S. Veeramani		AIADMK	85,083	42.87	10,680
171	Kumbakonam	G. Anbazhagan		DMK	96,057	48.62	M. Srithar Vandayar		AIADMK (MMK)	74,674	37.8	21,383
172	Papanasam	Dr. M. H. Jawahirullah		DMK (MMK)	86,567	43.95	K. Gopinathan		AIADMK	70,294	35.69	16,273
173	Thiruvaiyaru	Durai Chandrasekaran		DMK	103,210	48.82	Poondi S. Venkatesan		BJP	49,560	23.44	53,650
174	Thanjavur	T. K. G. Neelamegam		DMK	103,772	53.25	V. Arivudainambi		AIADMK	56,623	29.06	47,149
175	Orathanadu	R. Vaithilingam		AIADMK	90,063	46.95	M. Ramachandran		DMK	61,228	31.92	28,835
176	Pattukkottai	K. Annadurai		DMK	79,065	44.62	N. R. Rengarajan		AIADMK	53,796	30.36	25,269
177	Peravurani	N. Ashok Kumar		DMK	89,130	52.17	S. V. Thirugnana Sambandam		AIADMK	65,627	38.41	23,503
Pudukottai District
178	Gandharvakottai (SC)	M. Chinnadurai		CPI(M)	69,710	44.23	S. Jayabharati		AIADMK	56,989	36.16	12,721
179	Viralimalai	C. Vijayabaskar		AIADMK	102,179	52.83	M. Palaniappan		DMK	78,581	40.63	23,598
180	Pudukkottai	D. Muthuraja		DMK	85,802	47.7	V. R. Karthik Thondaiman		AIADMK	72,801	40.47	13,001
181	Thirumayam	S. Ragupathi		DMK	71,349	41	P. K. Vairamuthu		AIADMK	69,967	40.2	1,382
182	Alangudi	S. V. V. Meyyanaadhan		DMK	87,935	51.17	Dharma. Thangavel		AIADMK	62,088	36.13	25,847
183	Aranthangi	Ramachandran T		INC	81,835	48.7	M. Rajanayagam		AIADMK	50,942	30.31	30,893
Sivaganga District
184	Karaikudi	S. Mangudi		INC	75,954	35.75	H. Raja		BJP	54,365	25.59	21,589
185	Tiruppattur (Sivaganga)	K. R. Periyakaruppan		DMK	103,682	49.19	Marudhu Alaguraj		AIADMK	66,308	31.46	37,374
186	Sivaganga	P. R. Senthilnathan		AIADMK	82,153	40.66	S. Gunasekaran		CPI(M)	70,900	35.09	11,253
187	Manamadurai (SC)	A. Tamilarasi		DMK	89,364	44.01	S. Nagarajan		AIADMK	75,273	37.07	14,091
Madurai District
188	Melur	Periyapulian (A) P. Selvam		AIADMK	83,344	45.6	T. Ravichandran		INC	48,182	26.36	35,162
189	Madurai East	P. Moorthy		DMK	122,729	51.59	Gopalakrishnan		ADMK	73,125	30.74	49,604
190	Sholavandan (SC)	Venkatesan		DMK	84,240	48.04	Manickam		ADMK	67,195	38.32	17,045
191	Madurai North	G. Thalapathi		DMK	73,010	46.64	P. Saravanan		BJP	50,094	32	22,916
192	Madurai South	M. Boominathan		DMK (MDMK)	62,812	42.49	S.S.Saravanan		ADMK	56,297	38.08	6,515
193	Madurai Central	Palanivel Thiagarajan		DMK	73,205	48.99	Jothi Muthuramalingam		ADMK	39,029	26.12	34,176
194	Madurai West	Sellur K. Raju		AIADMK	83,883	41.59	C. Chinnammal		DMK	74,762	37.07	9,121
195	Thiruparankundram	V. V. Rajan Chellappa		AIADMK	103,683	43.96	S. K. Ponnuthai		CPI(M)	74,194	31.46	29,489
196	Tirumangalam	R. B. Udhayakumar		AIADMK	100,338	45.51	M. Maniraman		DMK	86,251	39.12	14,087
197	Usilampatti	P. Ayyappan		AIADMK	71,255	33.53	Kathiravan		DMK	63,778	30.01	7,477
Theni District
198	Andipatti	A. Maharajan		DMK	93,541	44.64	A. Logirajan		AIADMK	85,003	40.57	8,538
199	Periyakulam (SC)	K. S. Saravana Kumar		DMK	92,251	45.71	M. Murugan		AIADMK	70,930	35.15	21,321
200	Bodinayakanur	O. Panneerselvam		AIADMK	100,050	46.58	Thanga Tamil Selvan		DMK	89,029	41.45	11,021
201	Cumbum	N. Eramakrishnan		DMK	104,800	51.81	S. P. M. Syed Khan		AIADMK	62,387	30.84	42,413
Virudhunagar District
202	Rajapalayam	S. Thangappandian		DMK	74,158	41.5	K. T. Rajenthra Bhalaji		AIADMK	70,260	39.32	3,898
203	Srivilliputhur (SC)	E. M. Manraj		AIADMK	70,475	38.09	P. S. W. Madhava Rao		INC	57,737	31.2	12,738
204	Sattur	A. R. R. Raghumaran		DMK (MDMK)	74,174	38.68	R. K. Ravichandran		AIADMK	62,995	32.85	11,179
205	Sivakasi	A. M. S. G. Ashokan		INC	78,947	42.66	Lakshmi Ganesan		AIADMK	61,628	33.3	17,319
206	Virudhunagar	A. R. R. Seenivasan		DMK	73,297	45.32	G. Pandurangan		BJP	51,598	32.13	21,699
207	Aruppukkottai	K. K. S. S. R. Ramachandran		DMK	91,040	53.18	Vaigaichelvan		AIADMK	52,006	30.38	39,034
208	Tiruchuli	Thangam Thennarasu		DMK	102,225	59.15	S. Rajasekar		AIADMK (AIMMK)	41,233	23.86	60,992
Ramanathapuram District
209	Paramakudi (SC)	S. Murugesan		DMK	84,864	46.59	N. Sadhan Prabhakar		AIADMK	71,579	39.3	13,285
210	Tiruvadanai	R. M. Karumanickam		INC	79,364	39.33	K. C. Animuthu		AIADMK	65,512	32.46	13,852
211	Ramanathapuram	K. Kadharbatcha Muthuramalingam		DMK	111,082	51.88	D. Kuppuram		BJP	60,603	28.31	50,479
212	Mudhukulathur	R. S. Raja Kannappan		DMK	101,901	46.06	Keerthika Muniyasamy		AIADMK	81,180	36.7	20,721
Thoothukudi District
213	Vilathikulam	G. V. Markandayan		DMK	90,348	54.05	Chinnapan P		AIADMK	51,799	30.99	38,549
214	Thoothukkudi	P. Geetha Jeevan		DMK	92,314	49	SDR Vijaya Seelan		AIADMK	42,004	22.29	50,310
215	Tiruchendur	Anitha R. Radhakrishnan		DMK	88274	50.58	Radhakrishnan M		AIADMK	63,011	36.1	25,263
216	Srivaikuntam	S. Amirtharaj		INC	76,843	46.75	S. P. Shunmuganathan		AIADMK	59,471	36.18	17,372
217	Ottapidaram (SC)	C. Shunmugaiah		DMK	73,110	41.11	P. Mohan		AIADMK	64,600	36.32	8,510
218	Kovilpatti	Kadambur C. Raju		AIADMK	68,556	37.89	T. T. V. Dinakaran		AMMK	56,153	31.04	12,403
Tenkasi District
219	Sankarankovil (SC)	E. Raja		DMK	71,347	38.92	V. M. Rajalakshmi		AIADMK	66,050	36.03	5,297
220	Vasudevanallur (SC)	Dr. T. Sadhan Tirumalaikumar		DMK (MDMK)	68,730	39.08	A.Manoharan		AIADMK	66,363	37.70	2,367
221	Kadayanallur	C Krishnamurali		AIADMK	88,474	43.08	K.A.M. Muhammed Abubacker		IUML	64,125	31.22	24,349
222	Tenkasi	Palani Nadar		INC	89,315	41.71	S. Selva Mohandas Pandian		AIADMK	88,945	41.54	370
223	Alangulam	P. H. Manoj Pandian		AIADMK	74,153	36.44	Dr. Poongothai Aladi Aruna		DMK	70,614	34.70	3,539
Tirunelveli District
224	Tirunelveli	Nainar Nagendran		BJP	92,282	46.70	A.L.S. Lakshmanan		DMK	69,175	35.01	23,107
225	Ambasamudram	E. Subaya		AIADMK	85,211	47.96	R. Avudaiappan		DMK	68,296	38.44	16,915
226	Palayamkottai	M. Abdul Wahab		DMK	89,117	55.32	G. Gerald		AIADMK	36,976	22.95	52,141
227	Nanguneri	Ruby Manoharan		INC	75,902	39.43	Ganesa Raja		AIADMK	59,416	30.86	16,486
228	Radhapuram	M. Appavu		DMK	82,331	43.95	I.S. Inbudurai		AIADMK	76,406	40.79	5,925
Kanniyakumari District
229	Kanniyakumari	N. Thalavai Sundaram		AIADMK	109,745	48.8	Austin. S		DMK	93,532	41.59	16,213
230	Nagercoil	M. R. Gandhi		BJP	88,804	48.21	Suresh Rajan. N		DMK	77,135	41.88	11,669
231	Colachel	J. G. Prince		INC	90,681	49.56	Ramesh P.		BJP	65,849	35.99	24,832
232	Padmanabhapuram	Mano Thangaraj		DMK	87,744	51.57	John Thankam. D		AIADMK	60,859	35.77	26,885
233	Vilavancode	S. Vijayadharani		INC	87,473	52.12	Jayaseelan. R		BJP	58,804	35.04	28,669
234	Killiyoor	S. Rajeshkumar		INC	101,541	59.76	Jude Dev K.V		AIADMK	46,141	27.15	55,400

Analysis and trends

• In Northern Tamil Nadu, the Chennai Metropolitan Area and its surroundings proved to be a stronghold of the DMK. The DMK-led SPA completely sweeped all of the constituencies located in Chennai, Thiruvallur, and Kanchipuram districts. While facing tough competition in other parts of the North, the DMK bagged 64 of the region's 78 seats, overcoming the polarization between the AIADMK and the DMK that existed in the region in the 2016 election. The region expressed a strong anti-NDA trend, with the results indicating that the AIADMK did not benefit much from the its alliance with the PMK and the 10.5% internal reservation that was granted to the Vanniyar community within the Most Backward Community (MBC) quota.
• The politically sensitive Central Tamil Nadu and Kaveri delta region exhibited an overwhelming support for the SPA, with the AIADMK-led NDA winning only four out of the region's 41 seats. The DMK was met with victory in all the seats of Tiruchirappalli, Perambalur, Ariyalur and Mayiladuthurai districts, crucially. The resentment that prevailed amongst the region's farmers over the former AIADMK government's inability to resolve agricultural problems in the region has been cited as a reason.
• Except Madurai district, which was equally split between the AIADMK and DMK, much of Southern Tamil Nadu swinged towards the DMK alliance, an anti-incumbent trend compared to 2016, in which the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK (without the BJP) had sweeped most of the region's seats, except Kanyakumari district, which remained as an SPA stronghold. The region also gave the DMK its highest victory margin ever, with over 130,000 votes in Athoor constituency where its senior leader I. Periasamy defeated the PMK candidate.
• The AIADMK maintained its traditional sway in Western Tamil Nadu, popularly known as Kongu Nadu, where the NDA won more than 70% of the constituencies. Most notably, the NDA won in all the constituencies of Coimbatore and Dharmapuri districts.
• The cities of Tamil Nadu fuelled the DMK's victory in the election. 2021 exposed "a clear rural-urban divide" in the voting patterns of the state. Trends showed that DMK performed very well in the urban centres than the AIADMK. There are 154 rural, 30 semi-urban and 50 urban constituencies in the state. The DMK alliance won 40 of those urban seats, 96 of the rural seats and 23 of the semi-urban seats. Of the 75 seats the AIADMK alliance won, 58 were in rural areas, with only seven in semi-urban and 10 in urban centres. The SPA's strike rate was 80% in urban seats, 76% in semi-urban seats and 62% in rural seats, whereas the NDA's strike rate was 37% in rural seats, 23% in semi-urban seats and 20% in urban seats.

Reactions and aftermath

Palaniswami and his ministers resigned on 3 May 2021, submitting their papers of resignation to Banwarilal Purohit, the Governor of Tamil Nadu. During the early hours of the same day, DMK president Stalin paid respects at the memorial of his father and five-time Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi. Speaking to the journalists gathered there, Stalin stated that he will be sworn in as the Chief Minister in a simplistic ceremony that may be held at the Raj Bhavan, the Governor's residence. He underlined that the DMK will form the government for the sixth time in Tamil Nadu, and will follow the footsteps of Karunanidhi. Stalin added that the DMK's governance "will be such that those who had voted for the party will feel happy voting for it, and even those who did not vote would regret their decision to not have voted for the party".

After the resignation of Palanisami's administration, officials of the Public Works Department began resetting the Tamil Nadu Secretariat to prepare the campus for the new government under Stalin. The Chief Minister's Office returned all the files to the departments concerned, with the office quarters white-washed and name-boards of former ministers taken down.

Politicians, celebrities and government officials across India congratulated Stalin on his victory. The out-going Chief Minister Palanisami congratulated Stalin, tweeting: "My best wishes to M.K. Stalin who is going to take oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister". In another tweet, Stalin thanked Palanisami and sought his cooperation for "building the best Tamil Nadu". Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, tweeted that he will work with Stalin to enhance the nation's progress, fulfill the regional interests of Tamil Nadu, and fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 10 May 2021, the newly elected AIADMK MLAs convened to choose the new Leader of the Opposition, an important post equivalent to a cabinet minister. The meeting was inconclusive, with both Panneerselvam and Palaniswami staking claims to the post, while their supporters hurled charges against each other. This included a prolonged quarrel between the two sections of the party outside the party's head office, causing unrest. Supporters of Palaniswami believed that he should be the Leader of the Opposition due to the party's good performance in the election in western Tamil Nadu, the region he hails from; whereas, Panneerselvam's supporters felt that the party fared poorly in other regions of the state due to Palaniswami's wrong policies during his Chief Ministerial tenure. Eventually, Palaniswami was elected as the Leader of the Opposition.

After MNM performed unfavorably in its first-ever election, many officials and candidates resigned from the party, such as its vice president Dr. Mahendran, Muruganandam, C K Kumaravel. Mahendran said that "the attitude of Kamal Haasan towards the growth of the party has not been changed even after facing huge loss in the Tamil nadu assembly election". He cited the presence of "Sankhya solutions" in the party and added that Haasan is being misguided. Others cited "personal reasons".

Formation of government

On 3 May 2021, Durai Murugan, the general secretary of the DMK, called for a meeting of all the party's newly elected MLAs on 4 May 2021, at 4 PM, in Anna Arivalayam (the DMK headquarters, Chennai). In the meeting, the 133 MLAs formally extended their support to Stalin's appointment as the DMK's head at the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, making him the Chief-Minister-elect. Stalin's council of ministers and their allocated departments were revealed on 6 May 2021. The Stalin administration took charge on 7 May 2021, sworn in by Governor Purohit, in a ceremony at Raj Bhavan. Stalin became the eighth Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and the twelfth Chief Minister since the linguistic reformation of the state's boundaries in 1956.

See also

• 2019 Indian general election
• Elections in Tamil Nadu
• 2021 elections in India

References

{{#seo: |keywords=2021 State Assembly elections in India, State Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, 2020s in Tamil Nadu |description= }}