The twelfth legislative assembly election was held on 10 May 2001 in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led front won the elections and its general secretary, J. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as Chief Minister, even though she could not legally run as MLA in this election. She was unanimously elected as the leader of the 132-member AIADMK Legislative Party, and was subsequently nominated as Chief Minister by the party, preparing to assume office for her second term. The AIADMK-led front won a decisive victory, securing 196 constituencies. The AIADMK alone achieved a simple majority with 132 seats, enabling it to form the government without coalition support. The DMK won 31 seats and Its NDA allies won 6 seats. Political analysts attributed the results primarily to alliance arithmetic, with the broad coalition led by the AIADMK playing a decisive role in securing victory over the Incumbent DMK. 15 ministers from the outgoing Karunanidhi cabinet were defeated in their respective constituencies.
Due to criminal and corruption charges from Jayalalithaa's first term, on 21 September 2001, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled in a unanimous verdict that "a person who is convicted for a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such". Thereby, the bench decided that "in the appointment of Dr. J. Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister there has been a clear infringement of a Constitutional provision and that a writ of quo warranto must issue". In effect, her appointment as Chief Minister was declared null and invalid with retrospective effect. Therefore, technically, she was not the Chief Minister in the period between 14 May 2001 and 21 September 2001. After her resignation on 21 September 2001, she put in O. Panneerselvam, as the official 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, until she could clear up the charges from her first term, so she can take up the mantle of Chief Minister officially, on 2 March 2002.
Schedule EventDate Date for Nominations 16 April 2001 Last Date for filing Nominations 23 April 2001 Date for scrutiny of nominations 24 April 2001 Last date for withdrawal of candidatures 26 April 2001 Date of poll 10 May 2001 Date of counting 13 May 2001
Background and Coalition The incumbent party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, finished its full 5 terms, for the first time since winning the 1971 state assembly election. According to various sources and exit polls, the incumbent party was expexted to retain power, due to the popularity of its leader M. Karunanidhi. Due to the anti-incumbency factor, problems of development cited by the people in many rural areas of Tamil Nadu, and a broad coalition formed by AIADMK, including Tamil Maanila Congress, who left the alliance of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), because they joined BJP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Indian National Congress and the left parties, the AIADMK-led front, with its general secretary J. Jayalalithaa, won by a landslide, sweeping across the state. In this election, J. Jayalalithaa described the contest as a “life-and-death battle” for her political future.
On 24 April 2001, the nomination papers of ADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa for Bargur and Andipatti, filed on 18 April, along with nominations filed on her behalf in Pudukkottai and Bhuvanagiri minutes before the April 23 deadline, were rejected during scrutiny due to her conviction in the TANSI land deal case.Under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, her sentence disqualified J. Jayalalithaa from contesting. Some critics, however, argued that filing multiple nominations was aimed at projecting their rejection as part of a conspiracy involving Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. In response, Chief Minister Karunanidhi, who had earlier indicated that her nominations might be rejected, remarked: “There is nothing for me to rejoice about. The law has taken its course". Senior advocate Siddhartha Shankar Ray and M. Thambidurai represented her before the Returning Officer at Krishnagiri, and her dummy candidates became the official AIADMK nominees of those seats. Following the rejection, Jayalalithaa campaigned from an open vehicle in Pudukkottai, accusing Karunanidhi of conspiracy, stating: “conspiring Karunanidhi” and alleging he pressured officials to block her candidature to promote his son M. K. Stalin. She declared: “It’s time we put an end to his efforts to establish a dynasty.” Despite her disqualification, she told voters: “I have faith in you and only you can give the final verdict. you should consider that I am contesting in all the 141 constituencies where the AIADMK has put up candidates.” She also invoked lines from a Tamil film song from the 1971 film Rickshawkaran starring her mentor MGR: “Angey sirippavargal sirikkattum. adhu aanava sirippu. nalla theerppai ulagam sollum naal varumpothu, angey sirippavar yaar azhubavar yaar theriyum appothu” (“Let those who laugh there, laugh. it is the laughter of arrogance; when the world delivers the true verdict, it will be known who laughs and who weeps”). The episode significantly shaped the political narrative of the election, with Jayalalithaa portraying herself as a victim of a political conspiracy, a stance that drew continued support and sympathy from her alliance partners and sections of the electorate.
Seat allotments Source: Various Sources
Secular Democratic Progressive Alliance colspan="8" Secular Democratic Progressive AllianceParty FlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam J. Jayalalithaa140141Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam B. John Pandian1Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)G. K. Moopanar 3132 Republican Party of India C. K. Thamizharasan 1Pattali Makkal KatchiS. Ramadoss27Indian National CongressE. V. K. S. Elangovan14Communist Party of India (Marxist)N. Sankaraiah8Communist Party of IndiaR. Nallakannu8All India Forward BlocL. Santhanam1Indian National League M. Abdul Lathief1Indian Union Muslim League K. M. Kader Mohideen1Independent P. S. Arul1Total 234
DMKNDA Alliance
colspan="8" National Democratic AllianceParty FlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedDravida Munnetra Kazhagam M. Karunanidhi167183Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Thol. Thirumavalavan8 Tamizhaga Muslim Iykkya JamaatJ. M. Aaroon Rashid3TMC Jananayaka PeravaiP. Chidambaram 2 Tamil Pattali Makkal KatchiDheeran1 Tamil Nadu Mutharaiyar SangamKuzha Chelliah1All India Moovendar Munnani KazhagamDr. Sethuraman1Bharatiya Janata PartyS. P. Kripanidhi21Puthiya TamilagamK. Krishnasamy10Makkal Tamil Desam KatchiS. Kannappan6Puthiya Needhi KatchiA. C. Shanmugam5MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra KazhagamSu. Thirunavukkarasar3 MGR KazhagamR. M. Veerappan2Kongunadu Makkal KatchiA. M. Raja1Uzhavar Uzhaippalar Katchi'Vettavalam' Manikandan1Thondar CongressKumari Ananthan1 Thamilar BhoomiKu. Pa. Krishnan1Total 234
MDMK
colspan="6" Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra KazhagamParty FlagSymbolLeaderSeats contested Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Vaiko 211
List of Candidates