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.
Since 1950, Tamil Nadu has had 14 chief ministers. 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.
M. Karunanidhi of the DMK succeeded Annadurai, and was the longest-serving chief minister, holding the office for nearly nineteen years across five tenures. 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. In 1988, V. N. Janaki Ramachandran of the AIADMK became the first woman to hold the position of the state's chief minister. J. Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK became the youngest Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at the age of 43 in 1991, and had the second longest tenure, holding the office for more than fourteen years across multiple terms.
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 Chief Minister since 10 May 2026.
Predecessor 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. 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.
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. It was reconstituted after new provincial elections were conducted in 1946. 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.
Color key for political parties
Key Resigned Died in office Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
Chief Ministers of Madras Presidency No.PortraitName Elected constituencyTerm of officeThe ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding periodCouncilMinistryAppointed byPolitical partyAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1A. Subbarayalu Reddiar(1855–1921)Member of the Legislative Council17 December 192011 July 1921206 days1stReddiarFrederic ThesigerSouth Indian Liberal Federationrowspan=3 2Panaganti Ramarayaningar(1866–1928)Member of the Legislative Council11 July 192111 September 19235 years, 145 daysRamarayaningar IRufus Isaacs12 September 19233 December 19262ndRamarayaningar II3P. Subbarayan(1889–1962)Member of the Legislative Council4 December 192627 October 19303 years, 327 days3rdSubbarayanEdward WoodIndependent4B. Munuswamy Naidu(1885–1935)Member of the Legislative Council27 October 19304 November 19322 years, 8 days4thNaiduSouth Indian Liberal Federationrowspan=5 5Ramakrishna Ranga Rao(1901–1978)Member of the Legislative Council5 November 19325 November 19343 years, 151 daysRao IFreeman Freeman-Thomas5 November 19344 April 19365thRao II6P. T. Rajan(1892–1974)Member of the Legislative Council4 April 193624 August 1936142 daysRajan(5)Ramakrishna Ranga Rao(1901–1978)Member of the Legislative Council24 August 19361 April 1937220 daysRao IIIVictor Hope7Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu(1875–1942)Member of the Legislative Council1 April 193714 July 1937104 days1stNaiduIndependent8C. Rajagopalachari(1878–1972)Member of the Legislative Council14 July 193729 October 19392 years, 107 daysRajagopalachari IIndian National Congress–Vacant(Governor-General's rule)N/A29 October 193929 April 19466 years, 182 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A9T. Prakasam(1872–1957)Member of the Legislative Council30 April 194623 March 1947327 days2ndPrakasamArchibald WavellIndian National Congressrowspan=3 10O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar(1895–1970)Member of the Legislative Council23 March 19476 April 19492 years, 14 daysReddiyarArchibald Nye11P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja(1898–1957)Member of the Legislative Council6 April 194925 January 1950294 daysRajaKrishna 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. 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. 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.
Chief Ministers of Madras State (1950-1969)/ Tamil Nadu (1969-present)
Legend
Color key for political parties
Key Resigned Died in office Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term
No.PortraitName Elected constituency Term of officeAssemblyMinistryAppointed byPolitical party Assumed office Left office Time in office State of Madras State (19501969)1P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja(1898–1957)MLC26 January 19509 April 19522 years, 74 days2ndRajaKrishna Kumarsinhji BhavsinhjiINCrowspan=6 2C. Rajagopalachari(1878–1972)MLC10 April 195213 April 19542 years, 3 days1stRajagopalachari IISri Prakasa3K. Kamaraj(1903–1975)Gudiyatham13 April 195412 April 1957 9 years, 172 daysKamaraj ISattur13 April 195714 March 19622ndKamaraj IIA. J. John15 March 19622 October 19633rdKamaraj IIIBishnu Ram Medhi4M. Bhaktavatsalam(1897–1987)Sriperumbudur2 October 19635 March 19673 years, 154 daysBhaktavatsalam5C. N. Annadurai(1909–1969)MLC6 March 196713 January 19691 year, 313 days4thAnnaduraiUjjal SinghDMK State of Tamil Nadu (1969present)1C. N. Annadurai(1909–1969) MLC14 January 19693 February 196920 days4thAnnaduraiUjjal SinghDMKrowspan=4 ActingV. R. Nedunchezhiyan(1920–2000)Triplicane3 February 196910 February 19697 daysNedunchezhiyan I2M. Karunanidhi(1924–2018)Saidapet10 February 196914 March 19716 years, 355 daysKarunanidhi I15 March 197131 January 19765thKarunanidhi II–Vacant(President's rule)N/A31 January 197629 June 19771 year, 149 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A3M. G. Ramachandran(1917–1987)Aruppukottai30 June 197717 February 19802 years, 232 days6thRamachandran IPrabhudas B. PatwariAIADMK–Vacant(President's rule)N/A17 February 19808 June 1980112 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A(3)M. G. Ramachandran(1917–1987)Madurai West9 June 19809 February 19857 years, 198 days7thRamachandran IIPrabhudas B. PatwariAIADMKrowspan=4 Andipatti10 February 198524 December 19878thRamachandran IIIS. L. KhuranaActingV. R. Nedunchezhiyan(1920–2000)Athoor24 December 19877 January 198814 daysNedunchezhiyan II4V. N. Janaki(1923–1996)did not contest7 January 198830 January 198823 daysJanaki–Vacant(President's rule)N/A30 January 198826 January 1989362 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A(2)M. Karunanidhi(1924–2018)Harbour27 January 198930 January 19912 years, 3 days9thKarunanidhi IIIP. C. AlexanderDMK–Vacant(President's rule)N/A30 January 199123 June 1991144 daysDissolvedN/A–N/A5J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)Bargur24 June 199112 May 19964 years, 323 days10thJayalalithaa IBhishma Narain SinghAIADMK(2)M. Karunanidhi(1924–2018)Chepauk13 May 199613 May 20015 years11thKarunanidhi IVMarri Chenna ReddyDMK(5)J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)did not contest14 May 200121 September 2001130 days12thJayalalithaa IIFathima BeeviAIADMKrowspan=3 6O. Panneerselvam( 1951)Periyakulam21 September 20012 March 2002162 daysPanneerselvam IC. Rangarajan(5)J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)Andipatti2 March 200212 May 20064 years, 71 daysJayalalithaa IIIP. S. Ramamohan Rao(2)M. Karunanidhi(1924–2018)Chepauk13 May 200615 May 20115 years, 2 days13thKarunanidhi VSurjit Singh BarnalaDMK(5)J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)Srirangam16 May 201127 September 20143 years, 134 days14thJayalalithaa IVAIADMKrowspan=6 (6)O. Panneerselvam( 1951)Bodinayakanur28 September 201423 May 2015237 daysPanneerselvam IIKonijeti Rosaiah(5)J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar23 May 201522 May 20161 year, 196 daysJayalalithaa V23 May 20165 December 201615thJayalalithaa VI(6)O. Panneerselvam( 1951)Bodinayakanur6 December 201615 February 201772 daysPanneerselvam IIIC. Vidyasagar Rao7Edappadi K. Palaniswami( 1954)Edappadi16 February 20176 May 20214 years, 79 daysPalaniswami8M. K. Stalin( 1953)Kolathur7 May 20219 May 20265 years, 2 days16thStalinBanwarilal PurohitDMK9C. Joseph Vijay( 1974)Perambur10 May 2026 Incumbent 17thVijayRajendra ArlekarTVK
Timeline
Statistics List of chief ministers by length of term