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.
Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1998 Registered 4,55,77,788 Turnout 2,64,10,702
(57.95%) 8.98%
1998 Election map (by constituencies) Saffron = NDA and Red = UF
Source: Frontline [ 2]
National Democratic Alliance
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Source: Indian Express[ 3]
Note: Even though CPI(M) originally wanted to contest in support of the United Front, it decided to contest alone when only 1 seat (Coimbatore) was offered. After the fallout, CPM wanted to contest 6 seats in Tamil Nadu on its own, but eventually only contested 2 seats and decided to support DMK-TMC front in the other 37 seats. This was done to keep out the possibility of any vote splitting that might result in NDA gaining seats.[ 4]
Election map of results based on parties. Colours are based on the results table on the left
Election Map (Results reflected as %seats won by districts) AIADMK-BJP alliance won all the seats in this district
AIADMK-BJP alliance won 67% of the seats (Vellore)
DMK-TMC-CPI alliance won all the seats in this district
Alliance
Party
Popular Vote
Percentage
Swing
Seats won
Seat Change
National Democratic Alliance
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
6,628,928
25.89%
18.05%
18
18
Pattali Makkal Katchi
1,548,976
6.05%
4.02%
4
4
Bharatiya Janata Party
1,757,645
6.86%
3.93%
3
3
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
1,602,504
6.26%
1.76%
3
3
Janata Party
266,202
1.04%
0.28%
1
1
Independents
365,557
1.43%
1
Total
12,169,812
47.53%
29.47%
30
30
United Front
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
5,140,266
20.08%
5.55%
5
12
Tamil Maanila Congress
5,169,183
20.19%
6.81%
3
17
Communist Party of India
628,360
2.45%
0.12%
1
1
Total
10,937,809
42.72%
12.24%
9
30
INC+
Indian National Congress
1,223,102
4.78%
13.48%
0
MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
278,324
1.09%
new party
0
new party
United Communist Party of India
10,018
0.04%
new party
0
new party
Total
1,511,444
5.91%
12.35%
0
Independents
265,029
1.03%
1.97%
0
Other Parties (10 parties)
719,704
2.81%
2.91%
0
Total
25,603,798
100.00%
39
Valid Votes
25,603,798
96.94%
Invalid Votes
806,904
3.06%
Total Votes
26,410,702
100.00%
Registered Voters/Turnout
45,577,788
57.95%
8.98%
†: Seat change represents seats won in terms of the current alliances, which is considerably different from the last election. ‡ : Vote % reflects the percentage of votes the party received compared to the entire electorate in Tamil Nadu that voted in this election. Adjusted (Adj.) Vote %, reflects the % of votes the party received per constituency that they contested.
Sources: Election Commission of India[ 5]
Sl.No.
Constituency
Winner
Party
Alliance
Margin
Runner-up
Party
1
Chennai North
C. Kuppusami
DMK
UF
69,093
R. T. Sabapathy Mohan
MDMK
2
Chennai Central
Murasoli Maran c
DMK
UF
71,727
D. Jayakumar
AIADMK
3
Chennai South
T. R. Baalu c
DMK
UF
20,014
Jana Krishnamurthi
BJP
4
Sriperumbudur
K. Venugopal
AIADMK
NDA
23,795
T. Nagarathinam
DMK
5
Chengalpattu
Kanchi Panneerselvam
AIADMK
NDA
22,916
K. Parasuraman
DMK
6
Arakkonam
C. Gopal
AIADMK
NDA
49,488
A. M. Velu
TMC(M)
7
Vellore
N. T. Shanmugam
PMK
NDA
26,405
T. A. Mohammad Saqhy
DMK
8
Tiruppattur
D. Venugopal c
DMK
UF
274
S. Krishnamoorthy
AIADMK
9
Vandavasi
M. Durai
PMK
NDA
65,075
L. Balaraman
TMC(M)
10
Tindivanam
N. Ramachandran Gingee
MDMK
NDA
31,453
G. Venkataraman
DMK
11
Cuddalore
M. C. Dhamodaran
AIADMK
NDA
27,129
P. R. S. Venkatesan
TMC(M)
12
Chidambaram
R. Elumalai
PMK
NDA
7,955
V. Ganesan
DMK
13
Dharmapuri
K. Pary Mohan
PMK
NDA
99,427
P. Theertharaman
TMC(M)
14
Krishnagiri
K. P. Munisamy
AIADMK
NDA
49,349
D. R. Rajaram Naidu
TMC(M)
15
Rasipuram
V. Saroja
AIADMK
NDA
54,377
K. Kandasamy
TMC(M)
16
Salem
Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy
Independent
NDA
135,880
R. Devadass
TMC(M)
17
Tiruchengode
Edappadi K. Palaniswami
AIADMK
NDA
104,809
K. P. Ramalingam
DMK
18
Nilgiris
M. Master Mathan
BJP
NDA
60,385
S. R. Balasubramanian
TMC(M)
19
Gobichettipalayam
V. K. Chinnasamy
AIADMK
NDA
114,642
N. Ramasamy
DMK
20
Coimbatore
C. P. Radhakrishnan
BJP
NDA
144,676
K. R. Subbian
DMK
21
Pollachi
M. Thiyagarajan
AIADMK
NDA
95,401
Kovai Thangam
TMC(M)
22
Palani
A. Ganeshamurthi
MDMK
NDA
27,437
S. K. Kaarvendhan
TMC(M)
23
Dindigul
Dindigul C. Sreenivasan
AIADMK
NDA
15,199
N. S. V. Chithan
TMC(M)
24
Madurai
Subramanian Swamy
JP
NDA
20,897
A. G. S. Rambabu
TMC(M)
25
Periyakulam
R. Muthiah
AIADMK
NDA
70,580
R. Gandhimathy
DMK
26
Karur
M. Thambidurai
AIADMK
NDA
43,673
K. Natrayan
TMC(M)
27
Tiruchirappalli
Rangarajan Kumaramangalam
BJP
NDA
11,455
L. Adaikalaraj
TMC(M)
28
Perambalur
Rajarethinam
AIADMK
NDA
60,436
A. Raja
DMK
29
Mayiladuturai
K. Krishnamoorthy
TMC(M)
UF
42,456
P. D. Arulmozhi
PMK
30
Nagapattinam
M. Selvarasu
CPI
UF
131,303
K. Gopal
AIADMK
31
Thanjavur
S. S. Palanimanickam c
DMK
UF
48,204
L. Ganesan
MDMK
32
Pudukkottai
Raja Paramasivam
AIADMK
NDA
30,520
P. N. Siva
DMK
33
Sivaganga
P. Chidambaram c
TMC(M)
UF
59,141
K. Kalimuthu
AIADMK
34
Ramanathapuram
V. Sathiamoorthy
AIADMK
NDA
24,092
S. P. Udayappan
TMC(M)
35
Sivakasi
Vaiko
MDMK
NDA
134,923
V. Alagirisamy
CPI
36
Tirunelveli
M. R. Kadambur Janarthanan
AIADMK
NDA
6,904
R. Sarath Kumar
DMK
37
Tenkasi
S. Murugesan
AIADMK
NDA
97,267
M. Arunachalam
TMC(M)
38
Tiruchendur
Ramarajan
AIADMK
NDA
46,855
R. Dhanushkodi Adithan
TMC(M)
39
Nagercoil
N. Dennis c
TMC(M)
UF
29,185
Pon. Radhakrishnan
BJP
c -indicates sitting/incumbent M.P. from previous Lok Sabha (1996–1998)
Post-election Union Council of Ministers from Tamil Nadu
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Source: The Tribune[ 6] [ 7]
Note: R. Muthiah resigned in just 20 days in office, due to his assets coming into question by the high court in Madras.[ 8] In a year, cabinet ministers M. Thambidurai resigned along with M.R. Janarthanam, who was the replacement of R. Muthiah, as part of AIADMK's withdrawal from NDA, to start up fresh elections in 1999. Vazhappady Ramamurthy also refused to quit his cabinet ministership, and quit his relationship with AIADMK while keeping its relationship with NDA.[ 6]
Ministers of State (Independent charge)
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