Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Leader of the executive branch of the Government of Tamil Nadu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, while the de facto 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 the majority of seats in the assembly to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that the chief minister has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[2]
| Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu | |
|---|---|
| Tamiḻnāṭu Mutalamaiccar | |
| |
 | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Type | Head of government |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | |
| Appointer | Governor of Tamil Nadu |
| Formation | 10 April 1952 |
| First holder |
|
| Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu |
| Website | tn.gov.in |
Since 1950, Tamil Nadu has had 14 chief ministers.[a] The first four chief ministers belonged to the Indian National Congress, of which K. Kamaraj held the post for the longest, for more than nine years. With the rise of Dravidian parties in the state, C. N. Annadurai of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) became the first non-Congress chief minister in 1969. Annadurai was from the Tamil film industry, and since his tenure, a significant number of the state's chief ministers have hailed from the industry.[3]
M. Karunanidhi of the DMK succeeded Annadurai, and was the longest-serving chief minister, holding the office for nearly nineteen years across five tenures.[4] M. G. Ramachandran of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) took office in 1977 and served for nearly a decade across three terms.[b][5] In 1987, V. N. Janaki Ramachandran of the AIADMK became the first woman to hold the position of the state's chief minister.[6] J. Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK became the chief minister in 1991, and had the second longest tenure, holding the office for more than fourteen years across multiple terms.[7]
There have been four instances of President's rule in Tamil Nadu, most recently in 1991. C. Joseph Vijay of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is the incumbent since 10 May 2026, and is the first chief minister from a non-Dravidian party since 1969.[8]
List
The Madras Presidency, based at Fort St. George, was a presidency of India that was established in 1652 by the English East India Company to be the headquarters of the English settlements on the Coromandel Coast.
The territory under the presidency consisted of the village of Madrasapattinam and its surrounding regions. After a series of wars including the Anglo-French wars, Anglo-Mysore wars, and Polygar wars, and the consequent alliance with the Nawab of Arcot, it was expanded to cover the region from the Northern Circars to Cape Comorin, and included 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.
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 leaders. However, the members were appointed and not elected by the public. With the enactment of the Government of India Act 1919, the first elected legislature was formed in 1920 after the general elections.[9] 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.
As per 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 three years and having the power to decide on bills passed by the assembly.[10]
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.[11] It was reconstituted after new provincial elections were conducted in 1946.[12] 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.
|
|
Chief Ministers of Madras Presidency
| No. | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Elected constituency | Term of office[14] | Council (Election) |
Ministry | Appointed by | Political party[c] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||||
| 1 | A. Subbarayalu Reddiar (1855–1921) |
Member of the 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) |
Member of the 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) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 4 December 1926 | 27 October 1930 | 3 years, 327 days | 3rd (1926) |
Subbarayan | Edward Wood | Independent | |
| 4 |  |
B. Munuswamy Naidu (1885–1935) |
Member of the 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) |
Member of the 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) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 4 April 1936 | 24 August 1936[RES] | 142 days | Rajan | ||||
| (5) | |
Ramakrishna Ranga Rao (1901–1978) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 24 August 1936[§] | 1 April 1937 | 220 days | Rao III | Victor Hope | |||
| 7 |  |
Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu (1875–1942) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 1 April 1937 | 14 July 1937[RES] | 104 days | 1st (1937) |
Naidu | Independent | ||
| 8 |  |
C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972) |
Member of the 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) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 30 April 1946 | 23 March 1947[RES] | 327 days | 2nd (1946) |
Prakasam | Archibald Wavell | Indian National Congress | |
| 10 |  |
O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar (1895–1970) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 23 March 1947 | 6 April 1949[RES] | 2 years, 14 days | Reddiyar | Archibald Nye | |||
| 11 |  |
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 6 April 1949 | 25 January 1950 | 294 days | Raja | Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji | |||
Timeline
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.[15] It consisted of 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.
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.[16] 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.[17]
|
|
Chief Ministers of Madras State
| No. | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Elected constituency | Term of office[14] | Assembly (Election) |
Ministry | Appointed by | Political party[c] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||||
| 1 | |
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957) |
Member of the 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) |
Member of the Legislative Council | 10 April 1952 | 13 April 1954[RES] | 2 years, 3 days | 1st (1952) |
Rajagopalachari II | Sri Prakasa | ||
| 3 | .jpg) |
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. Bhaktavatsalam (1897–1987) |
Sriperumbudur | 2 October 1963 | 5 March 1967 | 3 years, 154 days | Bhaktavatsalam | ||||
| 5 |  |
C. N. Annadurai (1909–1969) |
Member of the 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.[18][19] Consequently, the nomenclature "Madras Legislative Assembly" was changed to "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly". From 1967 onwards, 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 to date.
|
|
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
| No. | Portrait | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Elected constituency | Term of office[14] | Assembly (Election) |
Ministry | Appointed by | Political party[c] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||||
| 1 | |
C. N. Annadurai (1909–1969) |
Member of the 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 (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 (b. 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 (b. 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 (b. 1951) |
Bodinayakanur | 6 December 2016[§] | 15 February 2017[RES] | 72 days | Panneerselvam III | C. Vidyasagar Rao | |||
| 7 |  |
Edappadi K. Palaniswami (b. 1954) |
Edappadi | 16 February 2017 | 6 May 2021 | 4 years, 79 days | Palaniswami | ||||
| 8 |  |
M. K. Stalin (b. 1953) |
Kolathur | 7 May 2021 | 9 May 2026 | 5 years, 2 days | 16th (2021) |
Stalin | Banwarilal Purohit | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | |
| 9 |  |
C. Joseph Vijay (b. 1974) |
Perambur | 10 May 2026 | Incumbent | 5 days | 17th (2026) |
Vijay | Rajendra Arlekar | Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam | |
Timeline
Statistics
- List of chief ministers by length of term
| No. | Name | Party | Length of term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest continuous duration | Total duration 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 | M. K. Stalin | DMK | 5 years, 2 days | 5 years, 2 days | |
| 6 | Edappadi K. Palaniswami | AIADMK | 4 years, 79 days | 4 years, 79 days | |
| 7 | M. Bhaktavatsalam | 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 | AIADMK | 23 days | 23 days | |
| Acting | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan | DMK/AIADMK | 14 days | 21 days | |
| 13 | C. Joseph Vijay | TVK | 5 days | 5 days | |
- List by party
| 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) | 9474 days |
| 3 | Indian National Congress | 4 | 6247 days |
| 4 | Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam | 1 | 5 days |
- Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Chief Minister's Office
See also
Notes
- Includes V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, who filled in as the chief minister in an acting role twice
- The President's Rule was in effect between 7 February and 8 June 1980.
- This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government they head may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.