Tamil Nadu state assembly election, 2006

The Tamil Nadu state assembly election of 2006, conducted alongside a batch of state assembly elections in 2006, took place on May 8, 2006 in 234 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, India. The elections were conducted to elect the government in the state of Tamil Nadu for the next five years. The votes were counted three days later on May 11, 2006 and, thanks to the electronic voting machines, all the results were out by the end of the day. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led front won the elections and its leader, M Karunanidhi was sworn in as Chief Minister. He is serving his fifth term.

The previous government formed by AIADMK led by J. Jayalalithaa completed its full five year term in office since it was voted to power in 2001. 51659 polling stations were set up for electorate, that sized up to 46,603,827 eligible voters.

Political Parties and the Alliances

Tamil Nadu has a remarkable history of being dominated by the local parties, DMK or AIADMK, while the national parties have a strong presence in other states. The parties have resorted to forming alliances in the last few elections to take on each sides for power.

Striking changes in the alliances included the swap of MDMK from DMK led Democratic Progressive Alliance to AIADMK led alliance. While Dalit Panthers of India joined the AIADMK alliance, all other major parties in the fray such as PMK, Congress, CPIM and CPI, aligned themselves with the DMK party.

There were two notable new parties — DMDK formed in September 2005 by actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth, and Lok Paritran formed by Indian Institutes of Technology graduates in February 2006. Both contested alone in this elections.

The contest was between two major alliances in a seat-sharing agreement, the AIADMK alliance and the DMK alliance. These arch rivals had a face-off in 106 seats.

Exit Polls [ [http://www.ibnlive.com/news/tn-exit-polls-exit-jaya-welcome-mk/9826-4.html CNN-IBN-Hindu Exit Polls Article] "accessed" 13 May 2006.] predicted a 157-167 seats in favour of the DMK alliance, while the AIADMK alliance was expected to get 64-74 seats in the assembly.

Total Number of constituencies : 234
Results declared : 234

* = This is not the MGP contesting in TN, but another party borrowing the election symbol of MGP

Constituency wise results

Notes:
* * The Members are in INC, on account of merger of TMC(M) with INC.
* ** TMC(M) henceforth be recognised as the members of Tamil Maanila Kamaraj Congress (TMKC).
* ## The Members have joined AIADMK
* *** The Member has joined BJP from MGR-ADMK
* ^ Unless noted beside the values, the information is sourced from .

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.eci.gov.in/May2006/index_st.htm Election Commission of India]
* [http://in.rediff.com/election/tn06.html Rediff coverage of the election]
* [http://www.tn.gov.in/tnassembly/ Tamil Nadu Government]
* [http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/ Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly]
* [http://www.thisismyindia.com/tamil-nadu/election-results.html Thisismyindia - Election results]
* [http://www.webindia123.com/election/candidates/tamil/index.htm Webindia123 - Political Parties of Tamil Nadu]
* [http://www.arasiyaltalk.com/CategoryView,category,TamilNadu%20Assembly%20Election.aspx Arasiyaltalk - Tamil Nadu Election Results]
* [http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14169646 Sify - AIADMK and DMK to face-off in 106 assembly seats]
* [http://www.ndtv.com/election2006/default.asp?st=tamilnadu NDTV Election Results]
* [http://www.indian-elections.com/assembly-elections/tamil-nadu/election-result-06.html Indian Elections]
* [http://in.rediff.com/election/2006/apr/10kbk.htm Rediff - Graphic: How Amma swept TN in '01]
* [http://in.rediff.com/election/2006/may/12ptn1.htm Rediff - Graphic: How the DMK wrested Tamil Nadu]