1977 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu

Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1977

16–20 March 1977[1]
39 (of 542) seats in the Lok Sabha
Registered	27,187,417
Turnout	18,252,182 (67.13%) 4.69%
First party Second party   Leader M. G. Ramachandran M. Karunanidhi Party AIADMK DMK Alliance Congress Front Janata alliance Leader's seat Did not contest Did not contest Seats won 34 5 Seat change 21 19 Popular vote 10,164,615 6,479,436 Percentage 56.91% 36.28% Swing 38.97% 29.40%
1977 Election map (by constituencies) Green = INC+ and Blue = JP+
Prime Minister before election Indira Gandhi INC(R) Prime Minister after election Morarji Desai JP

The 1977 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. The result was a big victory for Indian National Congress under Indira Gandhi and its allies All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Communist Party of India winning 34 seats, while Janata Party and its allies Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Indian National Congress (Organisation) won only 5 seats. The Janata Party ended up winning this election. After the election, the AIADMK ended up supporting the Janata Party under Morarji Desai. In 1979, AIADMK continued to support Janata Party, by supporting Charan Singh, which resulted in the appointment of two AIADMK cabinet members.

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		M. G. Ramachandran	20
2.		Indian National Congress (R)		Indira Gandhi	15
3.		Communist Party of India		M. Kalyanasundaram	3
4.		Indian Union Muslim League		K. M. Kader Mohideen	1

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		M. Karunanidhi	19
2.		Indian National Congress (Organization)		P. Ramachandran	18
3.		Communist Party of India (Marxist)		A. Balasubramaniam	2

Alliance		Party		Popular Vote	Percentage	Swing	Seats won	Seat Change
	AIADMK+		All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	5,365,076	30.04%	new party	17	new party
			Indian National Congress	3,977,306	22.27%	9.76%	14	5
			Communist Party of India	822,233	4.60%	0.83%	3	1
			Total	10,164,615	56.91%	38.97%	34	21
	DMK+		Indian National Congress (Organisation)	3,156,116	17.67%	12.76%	3	2
			Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	3,323,320	18.61%	16.64%	2	21
			Total	6,479,436	36.28%	29.40%	5	19
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)			279,081	1.56%	0.08%	0
	Republican Party of India			3,809	0.02%		0
	Independents			932,966	5.22%	3.06%	0
Total				17,859,907	100.00%		39
Valid Votes				17,859,907	97.85%
Invalid Votes				392,275	2.15%
Total Votes				18,252,182	100.00%
Registered Voters/Turnout				27,187,417	67.13%	4.69%

While there were no members from Tamil Nadu in Morarji Desai's Administration, Charan Singh appointed two AIADMK members to his cabinet, making it the first time a non-Congress Dravidian Party member making it to the council of ministers at the national level.

• Elections in Tamil Nadu

• Volume I, 1977 Indian general election, 6th Lok Sabha

• Website of Election Commission of India
• CNN-IBN Lok Sabha Election History