Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam

History

Origins and foundation

DMK traces its roots to the Justice Party founded by C. Natesa Mudaliar in 1916, in the presence of P. Theagaraya Chetty, P. T. Rajan, T. M. Nair, Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar and a few others in Victoria Public Hall Madras Presidency. The Justice Party, whose objectives included social equality and justice, came to power in the first general elections to the Madras Presidency in 1920. Communal division between Brahmins and non-Brahmins began in the presidency during the late-19th and early-20th century, mainly due to caste prejudices and disproportionate Brahminical representation in government jobs. The Justice Party's foundation marked the culmination of several efforts to establish an organization to represent the non-Brahmins in Madras and is seen as the start of the Dravidian movement. In 1935, Periyar, a popular reformist leader at that time, joined the Justice Party.

In the 1937 elections, the Justice Party lost and the Indian National Congress under C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) came to power in Madras Presidency. Rajaji's introduction of Hindi as a compulsory subject in schools led to the anti-Hindi agitations, led by Periyar and his associates.

In August 1944, Periyar created the 'Dravidar Kazhagam' (DK) movement out of the Justice Party and the Self-Respect Movement at the Salem Provincial Conference. The DK, conceived as a movement and not a political party, insisted on an independent nation for Dravidians called Dravida Nadu consisting of areas that were covered under the Madras Presidency.

Over the years, many disagreements arose between Periyar and his followers. In 1949, C. N. Annadurai and other members decided to take part in electoral politics and Periyar had strong objection on it. Annadurai and several of his followers decided to split from the DK movement and form the DMK.

The Dravidian philosophy played a key role in the DMK at the helm of administration. It was described it as the earliest subaltern movement in the history of the Indian subcontinent politics to have political representation from former lower castes. This led to greater political participation, which improved representation of the emergent strata, enriched civic life, and subsequently strengthened pluralist democracy in the region.

C. N. Annadurai era (1949–1969)

The DMK's initial participation in electoral politics, in the 1957 legislative assembly elections, was mixed. While it won 15 seats, many prominent leaders such as V. R. Nedunchezhiyan were defeated. It fared somewhat better in the 1962 elections, winning 50 seats and becoming the main opposition party by founder annadurai lost his seat.

The DMK inherited the anti-Hindi imposition policies of its parent organization, DK. Founder C.N. Annadurai had earlier participated in the anti-Hindi imposition agitations during 1938–40 and throughout the 1940s.

In July 1953, the DMK launched an agitation against the Union government's proposed name-change of Kallakudi to Dalmiapuram. They claimed that the town's proposed new name, proposed to be named after Ramkrishna Dalmia, symbolized the exploitation of South India by the North. On 15 July, M. Karunanidhi and other DMK members removed the Hindi name from Dalmiapuram railway station's name board and protested on the tracks. In the altercation with the police that followed the protests, two DMK members lost their lives, and several others, including Karunanidhi and Kannadasan, were arrested.

The DMK continued its anti-Hindi Imposition policies throughout the 1950s, along with the secessionist demand for Dravida Nadu, which initially adopted a more radical stance than the Dravida Kazhagam. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai, along with Periyar and Rajaji, signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language. On 21 September 1957, the DMK convened an anti-Hindi conference to protest against the imposition of Hindi. It observed 13 October 1957 as "anti-Hindi day".

On 31 July 1960, another open-air anti-Hindi conference was held in Kodambakkam, Madras. In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the Sino-Indian War and the passage of the anti-secessionist 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution. The anti-Hindi stance remained and hardened with the passage of Official Languages Act of 1963. The DMK's view on Hindi's eligibility for official language status were reflected in Annadurai's response to the "numerical superiority of Hindi" argument: "If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the peacock but on the common crow."

M. Karunanidhi era (1969–2018)

In 1969, after Annadurai's death, M. Karunanidhi was elected as his successor, defeating rival candidate V. R. Nedunchezhiyan. Karunanidhi headed the DMK until his own death in 2018. He was also appointed as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on 10 February 1969, sworn in by then Governor Sardar Ujjal Singh.

In the 1970s, M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.), a popular actor and the party treasurer, had a political feud with the party president Karunanidhi. In 1972, M.G.R. called for a boycott of the party's General Council. The crisis led to a call for a corruption probe by M.G.R. leading to his suspension from the General Council by the high-power committee of DMK. M.G.R. left the DMK and created a new political party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

In 1976, during the emergency period, prime minister Indira Gandhi dismissed the Karunanidhi government, fifty days before his tenure ended, citing failure to maintain law and order, implement emergency measures, uphold national discipline, and promote economic development. The Sarkaria Commission later investigated the DMK government for alleged irregularities in awarding tenders related to the Veeranam drainage project. However, no corruption charges were formally proven against Karunanidhi in the court.

The interim report of the Jain Commission, which oversaw the investigation into the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, indicted Karunanidhi for abetting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The interim report recommended that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the DMK party be held responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers. The final report contained no such allegations.

DMK lost the 1977 Assembly elections to the AIADMK, and stayed out of power in the state until 1989. After MGR's death in December 1987, AIADMK split into two factions led by MGR's wife Janaki and Jayalalithaa. The DMK returned to power in the 1989 state assembly elections and for the third time, Karunanidhi took over as the chief minister in January 1989.

The 1991 Lok Sabha election was held with the backdrop of DMK government having dissolved within two years of formation due to pressure from ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi leading an alliance with Samajwadi Janata Party. In the same year, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber during his election campaign, and due to DMK's pro-Tamil stance and the dismissal of the state government mid-campaign by Rajiv, public sentiments were against DMK and instead in favor of the AIADMK–Congress alliance, causing the DMK to not win any seats in the Parliament.

M. K. Stalin era (2018–present)

Karunanidhi died on 7 August 2018, leaving the party in the hands of his son, M. K. Stalin. Stalin had been appointed as the working president in January 2017 when his father's health started declining and had previously been named heir apparent by his father. Stalin thus became the second DMK president since the party's inception.

On 25 March 2018, the DMK held a statewide conference in Erode and M. K. Stalin released five slogans at the conference. They were:

Let us keep an eye on the Kalaignar's command

Let us grow and admire Tamil

Let us crush the power pile

Let us protect humanity from extremism

Let us grow a prosperous Tamil Nadu

During 2025 end the DMK constituted a committee headed by Kanimozhi, to prepare the manifesto for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election. MK Stalin launched the party's election manifesto portal on 3 January 2026 at the party headquarters. Over 14,000 suggestions received was received from citizens across the state on the day day one.

In the 2019 general election, DMK contested as part of the United Progressive Alliance led by the Indian National Congress. The alliance secured 38 out of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu with a 52% vote share. and won in Puducherry.

The DMK-led Secular Progressive alliance secured a majority in the 2019 Tamil Nadu local body elections.

In the 2021 state assembly election, the Secular Progressive Alliance won a majority by securing 159 seats out of 234 seats with a 46% vote share. Analysts partly attributed the victory to political developments within the AIADMK, including the rise and decline of V.K. Sasikala, and subsequent internal leadership challenges.

Party ideology

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam follows the principle of Duty, Dignity, and Discipline, as instructed by C. N. Annadurai. This involves protecting democratic rights in politics, establishing a non-dominant society, and carrying out reform work based on rationality to promote the revival of Dravidian ideology. The party aims to overcome poverty in the economic sphere and provide means for the well-being of all on an equitable basis. The party also aims to develop and promote the respective state languages without allowing other languages to dominate. The party believes in promoting the decentralization of powers from the Union government and creating autonomy in the states and federalism at the center.

Dravidian nationalism

The anti-Hindi Imposition agitations of 1965 forced the central government to abandon its efforts to use Hindi as the only official language of the country.

State autonomy

After The Emergency invoked by Indira Gandhi, more state powers like education and medical care were moved from state control to national control. At the state conference in Trichy after the death of Annadurai, Karunanidhi announced the adoption of the "state autonomy" principle to advocate for state self-governance. In April 1974, the DMK government brought in a resolution in the House urging the centre to accept the Rajamannar Committee recommendations on state autonomy and amend the Constitution of India to pave the way for a truly federal system.

Social justice

The DMK has been involved in the protest for OBC reservation, ensuring the provision legalizing OBC reservation. The party holds OBC welfare as a tenet of its core ideology and has implemented reservation related policies in favour of OBCs and SCs.

The DMK reconstituted the disabled persons welfare board to Differently Abled Persons Departments and changed official terms for transgender individuals to more respectful terms like "Thirunangai" and "Thirunambi".

Party symbol

The party's election symbol is the "sun rising from between two mountains", with a black and red flag pictured. The symbol was inspired by the Karunanidhi's 1950s play Udaya Suryan and is intended to signify the "rising" spirit of the Dravidian people.

In the 1957 poll, the DMK was not recognized by the Election Commission. The party was grouped as independents and was not united by its rising sun symbol and was forced to contest under the rooster symbol.

Electoral history

List of party leaders

List of chief ministers

List of Leaders of the Opposition

List of union cabinet ministers

Splits and offshoots

There are two major parties that have been formed as a result of splits from the DMK, which are

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), founded on 17 October 1972 by the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.).

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), founded on 6 May 1994 by Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Vaiko.

Media

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party runs two newspapers: an English weekly named The Rising Sun and a Tamil daily named Murasoli.

Kalaignar TV is a TV channel group started on 15 September 2007 and managed by Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal, the daughter and wife of Karunanidhi. The group has multiple sister channels: Kalaignar Isai Aruvi (24×7 Tamil music channel), Kalaignar Seithigal (24×7 Tamil news channel), Kalaignar Sirippoli (24×7 Tamil comedy channel), Kalaignar Chithiram (24×7 Tamil cartoon channel), Kalaignar Murasu(24×7 Tamil movie channel) and Kalaignar Asia.