Editing Tamil Nadu (section)

=== Politics ===
{{Main|Elections in Tamil Nadu|Politics of Tamil Nadu}}
[[File:K_Kamaraj_1976_stamp_of_India_(cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[K. Kamaraj]] served as the [[Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu|chief minister]] from 1954 to 1963]]

Elections in India are conducted by the [[Election Commission of India]], an independent body established in 1950.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eci.gov.in/about/about-eci/the-setup-r1/|title=Setup of Election Commission of India|date=26 October 2018|publisher=[[Election Commission of India]]|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=24 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124025555/https://eci.gov.in/about/about-eci/the-setup-r1/|url-status=live}}</ref> Politics in Tamil Nadu was dominated by national parties till the 1960s. Regional parties have ruled ever since. The [[Justice Party (India)|Justice Party]] and [[Swaraj Party]] were the two major parties in the erstwhile Madras Presidency.<ref name="encyclopp">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Political Parties|last=Ralhan|first=O.P.|year=2002|publisher=Print House|pages=180–199|isbn=978-8-1748-8287-5}}</ref> During the 1920s and 1930s, the [[Self-Respect Movement]], spearheaded by [[Theagaroya Chetty]] and [[E. V. Ramaswamy]] (commonly known as Periyar), emerged in the Madras Presidency and led to the formation of the Justice party.<ref>{{cite book|title=Political and Social Conflict in South India; The non-Brahmin movement and Tamil Separatism, 1916–1929|last=Irschick|first=Eugene F.|year=1969|oclc=249254802|publisher=[[University of California Press]]}}</ref> The Justice Party eventually lost the [[1937 Madras Presidency legislative assembly election|1937 elections]] to the [[Indian National Congress]] and [[Chakravarti Rajagopalachari]] became the chief minister of the Madras Presidency.<ref name="encyclopp"/> In 1944, Periyar transformed the Justice party into a social organisation, renaming the party [[Dravidar Kazhagam]], and withdrew from electoral politics.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/75-years-of-carrying-the-legacy-of-periyar/article29255010.ece|title=75 years of carrying the legacy of Periyar|date=26 August 2019|access-date=1 December 2023|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|archive-date=24 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224112854/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/75-years-of-carrying-the-legacy-of-periyar/article29255010.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> 

[[File:The_President,_Dr._A.P.J._Abdul_Kalam_addressing_the_nation_on_the_eve_of_58th_Republic_Day,_in_New_Delhi_on_January_25,_2007.jpg|thumb|left|[[APJ Abdul Kalam]] served as the [[List of presidents of India|eleventh]] [[President of India]]]]

After independence,  Rajagopalachari served as the last [[Governor General of India]] before India became a republic.<ref>{{cite web|date=December 10, 2015|title=Remembering C Rajagopalachari: 10 interesting facts about India's last Governor-General|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/c-rajagopalachari-276533-2015-12-10|access-date=18 June 2022|work=[[India Today]]|archive-date=28 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328110726/https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/c-rajagopalachari-276533-2015-12-10|url-status=live}}</ref> [[C. N. Annadurai]], a follower of Periyar, formed the [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] (DMK) in 1949.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-09-03-1971/marican-genesis%20dmk.pdf|title=Genesis of DMK|journal=Asian Studies|page=1|first=Y.|last=Marican|access-date=24 December 2023|archive-date=10 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210185715/https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-09-03-1971/marican-genesis%20dmk.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Congress dominated the political scene in Tamil Nadu in the 1950s and 1960s under the leadership of [[K. Kamaraj]], who led the party after the death of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and ensured the selection of [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] and [[Indira Gandhi]] as [[Prime Minister of India|prime ministers]].<ref name="CM">{{cite web|url=http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/history/cmlist.htm|title=Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu since 1920|publisher=[[Government of Tamil Nadu]]|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726082924/http://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/history/cmlist.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year=1990|page=[https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/164 164]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=[[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting]], [[Government of India]]|asin=B003DXXMC4}}</ref> 

The [[Anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu|anti-Hindi agitations]] led to the rise of [[Dravidian parties]] and the first such government was formed in [[1967 Madras State Legislative Assembly election|1967]].<ref>{{cite report|title=The Madras Legislative Assembly, 1962-67, A Review|url=https://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/3rd_1962/Review%203_62-67.pdf|publisher=[[Government of Tamil Nadu]]|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=24 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224112855/https://www.assembly.tn.gov.in/archive/3rd_1962/Review%203_62-67.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1972, a split in the DMK resulted in the formation of the [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] (AIADMK) led by [[M. G. Ramachandran]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/a-look-at-the-events-leading-up-to-the-birth-of-aiadmk/article37046741.ece|title=A look at the events leading up to the birth of AIADMK|date=21 October 2021|access-date=1 December 2023|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|archive-date=3 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203143001/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/a-look-at-the-events-leading-up-to-the-birth-of-aiadmk/article37046741.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> These two Dravidian parties continued to dominate the electoral politics in the state with the national parties often aligning as junior partners.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wyatt|first=A.K.J.|title=New Alignments in South Indian Politics: The 2001 Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu|journal=[[Asian Survey]]|volume=42|issue=5|pages=733–753|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|year=2002|doi=10.1525/as.2002.42.5.733|df=dmy-all|hdl=1983/1811|url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/new-alignments-in-south-indian-politics-the-2001-assembly-elections-in-tamil-nadu(ccd8e236-7d18-4981-92b0-5a1d63ff695d).html|hdl-access=free|access-date=24 December 2023|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212070038/https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/new-alignments-in-south-indian-politics-the-2001-assembly-elections-in-tamil-nadu(ccd8e236-7d18-4981-92b0-5a1d63ff695d).html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[M. Karunanidhi]], who became the leader of the DMK after Annadurai and [[J. Jayalalithaa]], who succeeded as the leader of AIADMK after M. G. Ramachandran dominated the state politics from the 1980s to early 2010s, serving as chief ministers combined for over 32 years.<ref name="CM"/><ref>{{cite news|date=10 February 2017|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/Jayalalithaa-vs-Janaki-The-last-succession-battle/article17284902.ece|title=Jayalalithaa vs Janaki: The last succession battle|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=11 February 2017|archive-date=10 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210193617/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/Jayalalithaa-vs-Janaki-The-last-succession-battle/article17284902.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

The state has produced three [[President of India|Indian presidents]], namely, [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-winner-at-the-end-why-amartya-sen-should-become-the-next-president-of-india/cid/1024890|title=Why Amartya Sen should become the next president of India|access-date=30 November 2023|first=Ramachandra|last=Guha|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]|date=15 April 2006|archive-date=28 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228073532/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060415/asp/opinion/story_6099278.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> [[R. Venkataraman]],<ref>{{cite news|first=Sanjoy|last=Hazarika|title=India's Mild New President: Ramaswamy Venkataraman|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=17 July 1987|access-date=6 January 2009|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDD1239F934A25754C0A961948260&n=Top/News/World/Countries%20and%20Territories/India|archive-date=12 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812204533/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/17/world/man-in-the-news-india-s-mild-new-president-ramaswamy-venkataraman.html?n=Top%2FNews%2FWorld%2FCountries+and+Territories%2FIndia|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[APJ Abdul Kalam]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Prisoners of the Nuclear Dream|last1=Ramana|first1=M. V.|last2=Reddy, C.|first2=Rammanohar|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-8-1250-2477-4|page=169}}</ref>