Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election, 1984

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, 1984

← 1980 December 24, 1984 1989 →
All 234 seats in the Legislature of Tamil Nadu
First party Second party   Leader M. G. Ramachandran M. Karunanidhi Party AIADMK DMK Alliance INC+ Lok Dal (Janata Secular) Leader's seat Andipatti did not contest Seats won 195 34 Seat change 29 25 Popular vote 11,681,221 8,021,293 Percentage 53.87% 37.00% Swing 4.95% 7.43%
1984 election map (by constituencies)
Chief Minister before election M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK

M. G. Ramachandran
AIADMK

M. G. Ramachandran
AIADMK

The eighth legislative assembly election for Tamil Nadu was held on December 24, 1984. Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) won the election and its leader, incumbent M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) was sworn in as Chief Minister, for the third time. The election victory was mainly attributed to the sympathy wave created by Indira Gandhi's assassination and MGR's illness coupled with Rajiv Gandhi's popularity. This is the last election MGR contested as he died in office in 1987.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. During the same time, M. G. Ramachandran was diagnosed with kidney failure and admitted in a hospital in New York City. Rajiv Gandhi assumed office immediately and this required a fresh mandate from the people. Indian National Congress (Indira) and Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam formed an alliance and contested the election.

National parties Bharatiya Janta Party, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress and Janata Party, state parties All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Indian Conress (J), and registered unrecognised parties Ambedkar Kranti Dal, Gandhi Kamraj National and Tamil Nadu Congress (K) contested the election.