1980 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu

For State Assembly election, see 1980 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.

The 1980 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu saw elections for all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The result was a landslide victory for the Indian National Congress (Indira) and its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, who won 37 out of 39 seats. Many observers considered it an upset defeat^[1] for the ruling state party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and its general secretary M. G. Ramachandran, which only won 2 seats—Gobichettipalayam and Sivakasi. Prior to the election, INC leader Indira Gandhi had formed an alliance with the DMK, resulting in an important part of her victory in the nationwide election that returned her to the office of Prime Minister of India.

Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1980

← 1977 January 1980 1984 →
39 (of 542) seats to the Lok Sabha
Registered	28,113,893
Turnout	66.76% 0.37%
First party Second party   Leader M. Karunanidhi M. G. Ramachandran Party DMK AIADMK Alliance Congress Alliance Janata alliance+LF Leader's seat Did not contest Did not contest Seats won 37 2 Seat change 21 21 Popular vote 10,290,515 7,392,655 Percentage 55.89% 40.14% Swing 15.01% 13.73%
1980 Election map (by constituencies) Green = INC(I)+ and Blue = JP+
Seat wise Result
Prime Minister before election Charan Singh JP(S) Elected Prime Minister Indira Gandhi INC(I)

Seat Allotment

Congress Front

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		Indian National Congress		Indira Gandhi	22
2.		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		M. Karunanidhi	16
3.		Indian Union Muslim League			1

Janata Alliance

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		M. G. Ramachandran	24
2.		Janata Party		P. Ramachandran	9
3.		Communist Party of India (Marxist)		A. Balasubramaniam	3
4.		Communist Party of India		P. Manickam	3

Voting and results

Election map of results based on parties. Colours are based on the results table on the left

Alliance		Party		Popular Vote	Percentage	Swing	Seats won	Seat Change
	DMK+		Indian National Congress (Indira)	5,821,411	31.62%	9.35%	20	6
			Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	4,236,537	23.01%	4.40%	16	14
			Independent	232,567	1.26%		1
			Total	10,290,515	55.89%	15.01%	37	21
	AIADMK+		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	4,674,064	25.38%	4.66%	2	15
			Janata Party	1,465,782	7.96%	9.71%	0	3
			Communist Party of India	660,940	3.59%	1.01%	0	3
			Communist Party of India (Marxist)	591,869	3.21%	1.65%	0
			Total	7,392,655	40.14%	13.73%	2	21
	Janata Party (Secular)			98,729	0.54%	new party	0	new party
	Indian National Congress (Urs)			41,671	0.23%	new party	0	new party
	Republican Party of India			9,497	0.05%	0.03%	0
	Independents			579,677	3.15%	2.07%	0
Total				18,412,744	100.00%		39
Valid Votes				18,412,744	98.11%
Invalid Votes				355,074	1.89%
Total Votes				18,767,818	100.00%
Registered Voters/Turnout				28,113,893	66.76%	0.37%

• The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was part of an alliance with Indira Congress in 1977, while the DMK is in alliance with them for the 1980 election

List of Elected MPs

Constituency	Winner	Party		Margin	Runner-upa	Partya
Madras North	G. Lakshmanan		DMK	99,318	M. S. Abdul Khader		AIADMK
Madras Central	A. Kalanidhi		DMK	105,049	P. Ramachandran		JP
Madras South	R. Venkataraman		INC(I)	120,362	E. V. K. Sulochana Sampath		AIADMK
Sriperumbudur	T. Nagaratnam		DMK	82,777	S. Jaganathan		AIADMK
Chengalpattu	Era. Anbarasu		INC(I)	110,016	R. Mohanarangam		AIADMK
Arakkonam	A. M. Velu		INC(I)	117,361	A. M. Raghunathan		AIADMK
Vellore	A. K. A. Abdul Samad		IUML	79,546	V. Dhandayuthapani		JP
Tiruppattur	S. Murugaiyan		DMK	115,361	M. Panduranganr		AIADMK
Vandavasi	D. Pattuswamy Mudaliar		INC(I)	127,154	C. A. Venugopal Gounder		AIADMK
Tindivanam	S. S. Ramasamy Padayachi		INC(I)	156,898	V. Munusamy Thirukkuralar		AIADMK
Cuddalore	R. Muthukumaran		INC(I)	108,651	Aravinda Pala Pajanor		AIADMK
Chidambaram	V. Kulandaivelu		DMK	138,725	S. Mahalingam		CPI(M)
Dharmapuri	K. Arjunan		DMK	66,871	G. Bhuvarahan		JP
Krishnagiri	Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy		INC(I)	100,511	V. Rajagopal		AIADMK
Rasipuram	B. Devarajan		INC(I)	59,872	S. Anbalagan		AIADMK
Salem	C. Palaniappan		DMK	26,258	P. Kamnan		AIADMK
Tiruchengode	M. Kandaswamy		DMK	21,218	R. Kolandaivelu		AIADMK
Nilgiris	R. Prabhu		INC(I)	85,743	T. T. S. Thippiah		JP
Gobichettipalayam	G. Chinnasamy		AIADMK	13,875	N. R. Thiruvenkadam		INC(I)
Coimbatore	Ram Mohan		DMK	56,109	Parvathi Krishnan		CPI
Pollachi	C. T. Dhandapani		DMK	15,735	M. A. M. Natarajan		AIADMK
Palani	A. Senapathi Gounder		INC(I)	59,568	P. S. K. Lakhmipathy Raju		JP
Dindigul	K. Maya Thevar		DMK	26,746	V. Rajan Chellappa		AIADMK
Madurai	A. G. Subburaman		INC(I)	69,195	A. Balasubramanyam		CPI(M)
Periyakulam	Cumbum N. Natarajan		DMK	19,882	S. Ramasamy		AIADMK
Karur	S. A. Dorai Sebastian		INC(I)	74,143	K. Kanagaraj		AIADMK
Tiruchirappalli	N. Selvaraj		DMK	73,599	T. K. Rangarajan		CPI(M)
Perambalur	K. B. S. Mani		INC(I)	99,172	S. Thangaraju		AIADMK
Mayiladuthurai	Kudanthai N. Ramalingam		INC(I)	92,005	S. Govindasamy		JP
Nagapattinam	M. Thazhai Karunanithi		DMK	10,674	K. Murugayan		CPI
Thanjavur	S. Singaravadivel		INC(I)	44,539	K. Thangamuthu		AIADMK
Pudukkottai	V. N. Swaminathan		INC(I)	16,099	Kuzha Chellaya		AIADMK
Sivaganga	R. V. Swaminathan		INC(I)	134,561	D. Pandian		CPI
Ramanathapuram	M. S. K. Sathyendran		DMK	84,133	P. Anbalagan		AIADMK
Sivakasi	N. Soundararajan		AIADMK	6,612	V. Jayalakshmi		INC(I)
Tirunelveli	D. S. A. Sivaprakasam		DMK	59,962	V. Arunachalam		AIADMK
Tenkasi	M. Arunachalam		INC(I)	108,316	S. Rajagopalan		JP
Tiruchendur	K. T. Kosalram		INC	113,819	N. Soundarapandian		JP
Nagercoil	N. Dennis		INC(I)	38,408	P. Vijayaraghavan		JP

Post-election Union Council of Ministers from Tamil Nadu

Cabinet Ministers

Minister	Party	Lok Sabha Constituency/Rajya Sabha	Portfolios
R. Venkataraman	INC	Madras South	Ministry of Finance

See also

• Elections in Tamil Nadu