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List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu

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Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Tamiḻnāṭu Mutalamaiccar
Emblem of Tamil Nadu
Incumbent
M. K. Stalin
since 7 May 2021
Chief Minister's Office
Style
TypeHead of government
StatusLeader of the Executive
AbbreviationCMOTN
Member of
Reports to
Residence25/9, Chittaranjan Salai, Cenotaph 2nd Lane, Alwarpettai, Chennai – 600018, Tamil Nadu, India.
SeatOffice of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Fort St. George, Chennai – 600009, Tamil Nadu, India.
AppointerGovernor of Tamil Nadu
Formation10 April 1952; 72 years ago (1952-04-10)
First holder
DeputyDeputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
WebsiteOfficial website

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[2]

Since 1952, Tamil Nadu has had 12 chief ministers, 13 including V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, who twice acted in the role. The longest-serving chief minister, M. Karunanidhi from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam held the office for over eighteen years in multiple tenures, while he was the one who had the largest gap between two terms (nearly thirteen years). The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's former general secretary J. Jayalalithaa has the second-longest tenure, and its founder M. G. Ramachandran, the first actor to become the chief minister in India has the third-longest tenure, while his wife V. N. Janaki Ramachandran has the shortest tenure (only 23 days). K. Kamaraj resigned his post of his own free will and devoted all of his energy to the revitalization of the Indian National Congress party; he was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri to the position of Prime Minister of the Republic of India following the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and of Indira Gandhi following the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. C. Rajagopalachari served as the first 

Governor-General of the Union of India before becoming chief minister of undivided Madras State. There have been four instances of president's rule in Tamil Nadu, most recently in 1991.[3][4]

The current incumbent is M. K. Stalin of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam since 7 May 2021.

List of chief ministers

[edit]

The Madras Presidency, headquartered in Fort St. George, India, was a presidency of India that comprised present day Tamil Nadu, the Malabar region of North Kerala, the coastal and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, and the Bellary, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts of Karnataka. It was established in 1653 to be the headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandel Coast.

The territory under the presidency comprised only Madrasapattinam and its surrounding regions. But, after the Anglo-French wars and the consequent alliance between the English East India Company and the Nawab of Arcot, it was expanded to comprise the region from the Northern Circars to Cape Comorin. The governance structure also evolved from a modest secretariat with a single secretary for the Public Department in 1670 to six departments overseen by a chief secretary by 1920.

The Indian Councils Act 1861 set up the Madras Legislative Council as an advisory body, without powers, through which the colonial administration obtained advice and assistance from able and willing Indian business leaders. But membership was selected (not elected) and was not representative of the masses.

With the enactment of the Government of India Act 1919, the first legislature was formed in 1920 after general elections.[5] The term of the legislative council was three years. It had 132 members, of whom 34 were nominated by the governor and the rest were elected. Under the Government of India Act 1935, a bicameral legislature was set up with a legislative assembly consisting of 215 members and a legislative council having 56 members. The first legislative assembly under this act was constituted in July 1937. The legislative council was a permanent body, with a third of its members retiring every 3 years and having the power to decide on bills passed by the assembly.[6]

In 1939, the Governor-General of India declared India's entry into World War II without consulting the Imperial Legislative Council. The Indian National Congress protested by asking all its elected representatives to resign from governments.[7] Then it came back to power in 1946 after new provincial elections.[8]

The state of Tamil Nadu in India has an electorate of more than 70 million people (7 crore).[9]
Madras Presidency in 1909, showing in the southern portion of India.
Since 1920, Fort St. George has been the Chief Secretariat of Tamil Nadu.
Chief ministers of the Madras Presidency
No. Portrait Name

(Birth–Death)

Elected constituency Term of office[10] Council
(Election) 		Ministry Appointed by Political party[a]
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 A. Subbarayalu Reddiar
(1855–1921) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 17 December 1920 11 July 1921[RES] 206 days 1st
(1920) 		Reddiar Frederic Thesiger South Indian Liberal Federation
2 Panaganti Ramarayaningar
(1866–1928) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 11 July 1921 11 September 1923 5 years, 145 days Ramarayaningar I Rufus Isaacs
12 September 1923 3 December 1926 2nd
(1923) 		Ramarayaningar II
3 P. Subbarayan
(1889–1962) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 4 December 1926 27 October 1930 3 years, 327 days 3rd
(1926) 		Subbarayan Edward Wood Independent
4 B. Munuswamy Naidu
(1885–1935) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 27 October 1930 4 November 1932[RES] 2 years, 8 days 4th
(1930) 		Naidu South Indian Liberal Federation
5 Ramakrishna Ranga Rao
(1901–1978) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 5 November 1932 5 November 1934 3 years, 151 days Rao I Freeman Freeman-Thomas
5 November 1934 4 April 1936[RES] 5th
(1934) 		Rao II
6 P. T. Rajan
(1892–1974) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 4 April 1936 24 August 1936[RES] 142 days Rajan
(5) Ramakrishna Ranga Rao
(1901–1978) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 24 August 1936[§] 1 April 1937 220 days Rao III Victor Hope
7 Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu
(1875–1942) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 1 April 1937 14 July 1937[RES] 104 days 1st
(1937) 		Naidu Independent
8 C. Rajagopalachari
(1878–1972) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 14 July 1937 29 October 1939[RES] 2 years, 107 days Rajagopalachari I Indian National Congress
– Vacant
(Governor-General's rule) 		N/A 29 October 1939 29 April 1946 6 years, 182 days Dissolved N/A – N/A
9 T. Prakasam
(1872–1957) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 30 April 1946 23 March 1947[RES] 327 days 2nd
(1946) 		Prakasam Archibald Wavell Indian National Congress
10 Omanthur P. Ramaswamy Reddiar
(1895–1970) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 23 March 1947 6 April 1949[RES] 2 years, 14 days Reddiar Archibald Nye
11 P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
(1898–1957) 		Leader of the Presidency Legislative Council 6 April 1949 25 January 1950 294 days Raja Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji
Timeline
P. S. Kumaraswamy RajaO. P. Ramaswamy ReddiyarT. PrakasamVacantC. RajagopalachariKurma Venkata Reddy NaiduP. T. RajanRamakrishna Ranga RaoB. Munuswamy NaiduP. SubbarayanPanaganti RamarayaningarA. Subbarayalu Reddiar
Development after independence

Madras State, the precursor to the present-day state of Tamil Nadu, was created after India became a republic on 26 January 1950.[11] It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. The first legislature of the Madras State to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage was constituted on 1 March 1952, after the general elections held in January 1952.[12]

The state was split up along linguistic lines in 1953, carving out Andhra State. Under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, the states of Kerala, and Mysore State were carved out of Madras State. Under the Andhra Pradesh and Madras Alteration of Boundaries Act, 1959, with effect from 1 April 1960, Tiruttani taluk and Pallipattu sub-taluk of Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh were transferred to Madras in exchange for territories from the Chingelput and Salem districts.[5][13]

Chief ministers of Madras State
No. Portrait Name

(Birth–Death)

Elected constituency Term of office[10] Assembly
(Election) 		Ministry Appointed by Political party[a]
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
(1898–1957) 		Leader of the State Legislative Council 26 January 1950 9 April 1952 2 years, 74 days 2nd
(1946) 		Raja Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji Indian National Congress
2 C. Rajagopalachari
(1878–1972) 		Leader of the State Legislative Council 10 April 1952 13 April 1954[RES] 2 years, 3 days 1st
(1952) 		Rajagopalachari II Sri Prakasa
3 K. Kamaraj
(1903–1975) 		Gudiyatham 13 April 1954 12 April 1957 9 years, 172 days Kamaraj I
Sattur 13 April 1957 14 March 1962 2nd
(1957) 		Kamaraj II A. J. John
15 March 1962 2 October 1963[RES] 3rd
(1962) 		Kamaraj III Bishnu Ram Medhi
4 M. Bhakthavatsalam
(1897–1987) 		Sriperumbudur 2 October 1963 5 March 1967 3 years, 154 days Bhakthavatsalam
5 C. N. Annadurai
(1909–1969) 		Leader of the State Legislative Council 6 March 1967 13 January 1969 1 year, 313 days 4th
(1967) 		Annadurai Ujjal Singh Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Change in nomenclature

During the term of the fourth assembly on 18 July 1967, the house unanimously adopted and recommended that steps be taken by the state government to secure the necessary amendment to the Constitution of India to change the name of Madras State to Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, the Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968 (Central Act 53 of 1968) was passed by the Parliament of India and came into force on 14 January 1969.[14] Consequently, the nomenclature "Madras Legislative Assembly" was changed to "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly". From 1967 onward, the strength of the assembly continued to remain at 234 plus a nominated member.

From 1952 to 1986, the state had a parliamentary system of government with two democratically elected houses, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. On 14 May 1986, the state government passed a resolution to abolish the legislative council in the state, which was then moved and adopted by the house. On 1 November 1986, Tamil Nadu became a state with a unicameral legislature, and since then, several times, the state government has taken steps to reconstitute the legislative council, but they have failed for so long. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council has not been constituted in the state till date.

Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
No. Portrait Name

(Birth–Death)

Elected constituency Term of office[10] Assembly
(Election) 		Ministry Appointed by Political party[a]
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 C. N. Annadurai
(1909–1969) 		Leader of the State Legislative Council 14 January 1969 3 February 1969[†] 20 days 4th
(1967) 		Annadurai Ujjal Singh Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Acting V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
(1920–2000) 		Triplicane 3 February 1969 10 February 1969[RES] 7 days Nedunchezhiyan I
2 M. Karunanidhi
(1924–2018) 		Saidapet 10 February 1969 14 March 1971 6 years, 355 days Karunanidhi I
15 March 1971 31 January 1976 5th
(1971) 		Karunanidhi II
– Vacant
(President's rule) 		N/A 31 January 1976 29 June 1977 1 year, 149 days Dissolved N/A – N/A
3 M. G. Ramachandran
(1917–1987) 		Aruppukottai 30 June 1977 17 February 1980 2 years, 232 days 6th
(1977) 		Ramachandran I Prabhudas B. Patwari All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Vacant
(President's rule) 		N/A 17 February 1980 8 June 1980 112 days Dissolved N/A – N/A
(3) M. G. Ramachandran
(1917–1987) 		Madurai West 9 June 1980[§] 9 February 1985 7 years, 198 days 7th
(1980) 		Ramachandran II Prabhudas B. Patwari All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Andipatti 10 February 1985 24 December 1987[†] 8th
(1984) 		Ramachandran III S. L. Khurana
Acting V. R. Nedunchezhiyan
(1920–2000) 		Athoor 24 December 1987 7 January 1988[RES] 14 days Nedunchezhiyan II
4 V. N. Janaki Ramachandran
(1923–1996) 		did not contest 7 January 1988 30 January 1988 23 days Janaki
– Vacant
(President's rule) 		N/A 30 January 1988 26 January 1989 362 days Dissolved N/A – N/A
(2) M. Karunanidhi
(1924–2018) 		Harbour 27 January 1989[§] 30 January 1991 2 years, 3 days 9th
(1989) 		Karunanidhi III P. C. Alexander Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
– Vacant
(President's rule) 		N/A 30 January 1991 23 June 1991 144 days Dissolved N/A – N/A
5 J. Jayalalithaa
(1948–2016) 		Bargur 24 June 1991 12 May 1996 4 years, 323 days 10th
(1991) 		Jayalalithaa I Bhishma Narain Singh All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(2) M. Karunanidhi
(1924–2018) 		Chepauk 13 May 1996[§] 13 May 2001 5 years 11th
(1996) 		Karunanidhi IV Marri Chenna Reddy Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(5) J. Jayalalithaa
(1948–2016) 		did not contest 14 May 2001[§] 21 September 2001[RES] 130 days 12th
(2001) 		Jayalalithaa II Fathima Beevi All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
6 O. Panneerselvam
(1951–) 		Periyakulam 21 September 2001 2 March 2002[RES] 162 days Panneerselvam I C. Rangarajan
(5) J. Jayalalithaa
(1948–2016) 		Andipatti 2 March 2002[§] 12 May 2006 4 years, 71 days Jayalalithaa III P. S. Ramamohan Rao
(2) M. Karunanidhi
(1924–2018) 		Chepauk 13 May 2006[§] 15 May 2011 5 years, 2 days 13th
(2006) 		Karunanidhi V Surjit Singh Barnala Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(5) J. Jayalalithaa
(1948–2016) 		Srirangam 16 May 2011[§] 27 September 2014 3 years, 134 days 14th
(2011) 		Jayalalithaa IV All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(6) O. Panneerselvam
(1951–) 		Bodinayakanur 28 September 2014[§] 23 May 2015[RES] 237 days Panneerselvam II Konijeti Rosaiah
(5) J. Jayalalithaa
(1948–2016) 		Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar 23 May 2015[§] 22 May 2016 1 year, 196 days Jayalalithaa V
23 May 2016 5 December 2016[†] 15th
(2016) 		Jayalalithaa VI
(6) O. Panneerselvam
(1951–) 		Bodinayakanur 6 December 2016[§] 15 February 2017[RES] 72 days Panneerselvam III C. Vidyasagar Rao
7 Edappadi K. Palaniswami
(1954–) 		Edappadi 16 February 2017 6 May 2021 4 years, 79 days Palaniswami
8 M. K. Stalin
(1953–) 		Kolathur 7 May 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 229 days 16th
(2021) 		Stalin Banwarilal Purohit Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Timeline
M. K. StalinEdappadi K. PalaniswamiO. PanneerselvamJ. JayalalithaaV. N. Janaki RamachandranM. G. RamachandranVacantM. KarunanidhiV. R. NedunchezhiyanC. N. AnnaduraiM. BhakthavatsalamK. KamarajC. RajagopalachariP. S. Kumaraswamy Raja

Statistics

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List of chief ministers by length of term
No. Name Party Length of term
Longest continuous term Total years of chief ministership
1 M. Karunanidhi DMK 6 years, 355 days 18 years, 360 days
2 J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK 4 years, 323 days 14 years, 124 days
3 M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK 7 years, 198 days 10 years, 65 days
4 K. Kamaraj INC 9 years, 172 days 9 years, 172 days
5 Edappadi K. Palaniswami AIADMK 4 years, 79 days 4 years, 79 days
6 M. K. Stalin DMK 3 years, 229 days 3 years, 229 days
7 M. Bhakthavatsalam INC 3 years, 154 days 3 years, 154 days
8 P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja INC 2 years, 74 days 2 years, 74 days
9 C. Rajagopalachari INC 2 years, 3 days 2 years, 3 days
10 C. N. Annadurai DMK 1 year, 334 days 1 year, 334 days
11 O. Panneerselvam AIADMK 237 days 1 year, 106 days
12 V. N. Janaki Ramachandran AIADMK 23 days 23 days
Acting V. R. Nedunchezhiyan AIADMK/DMK 14 days 21 days
List by party
Political parties by total time-span of their member holding CMO (22 December 2024)
No. Political party Number of chief ministers Total days of holding CMO
1 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 5 (+1 acting) 11004 days
2 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 3 (+1 acting) 8965 days
3 Indian National Congress 4 6247 days
Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Chief Minister's Office
2,500
5,000
7,500
10,000
12,500
15,000
AIADMK
DMK
INC
M. K. StalinEdappadi K. PalaniswamiO. PanneerselvamJ. JayalalithaaV. N. Janaki RamachandranM. G. RamachandranM. KarunanidhiV. R. NedunchezhiyanC. N. AnnaduraiM. BhakthavatsalamK. KamarajC. RajagopalachariP. S. Kumaraswamy Raja

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu". Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  2. ^ Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Tamil Nadu as well.
  3. ^ Archive.org — Government of Tamil Nadu — Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu since 1920
  4. ^ Government of Tamil Nadu — Assemblies — An Overview Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ a b "Government of Tamil Nadu — Tamil Nadu Secretariat — Brief History".
  6. ^ "Legislative bodies of India - Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly". Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2006.
  7. ^ "The Telegraph - Own Goal - Partition became inevitable once the Congress resigned in 1939".
  8. ^ "Pakistan - Toward Partition". www.country-data.com.
  9. ^ Mariappan, Julie (31 May 2013). "Tamil Nadu population rises to 7.2 crore in a decade". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  10. ^ a b c The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period
  11. ^ "Introduction to Constitution of India". Ministry of Law and Justice of India. 29 July 2008. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2008.
  12. ^ Government of Tamil Nadu — The State Legislature — Origin and Evolution Archived 13 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Historical Importance of Kanchipuram Archived 18 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Sundari, Dr. S. (2007). Migrant women and urban labour market: concepts and case studies. Deep & Deep Publications. p. 105. ISBN 9788176299664.
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