The third legislative assembly election to the Madras state (presently Tamil Nadu) was held between 17 and 24 February 1962. The Indian National Congress party, led by K. Kamaraj, won the election. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made significant in-roads in the election and emerged as the second party for the first time by winning 50 seats. 1962 Election remains the most recent election in which Indian National Congress formed a majority Government in the State as its support has heavily declined due to rise of Dravidian political parties.

The election also marked the last time a non-Dravidian party emerged as the largest party in the legislature, a record not broke until 59 years later by Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.

While the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam emerged as the opposition, its leader C. N. Annadurai, lost in his Kanceehpuram constituency, thus becoming the first and only DMK leader to lose his seat until 2026, when the incumbent DMK Chief Minister Stalin lost re-election in his bastion of Kolathur.

Constituencies Two member constituencies were abolished in 1961 by the Two-Member Constituencies(Abolition) Act, 1961. 38 two member constituencies were abolished and an equal number of single member constituencies were established and reserved for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates. The total number of constituencies remained at 206.

Background Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was emerging as a major challenger to Indian National Congress party in Tamil Nadu. However, its popularity was limited to the urban areas surrounding Madras and North and South Arcot districts. It had lacked a major support base in rural central and southern Tamil Nadu, a strong base of the Congress party. It won three city elections of the five largest cities, Madras, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Salem and Coimbatore in Madras state in alliance with the Communist Party of India in 1959 capitalising on its powerful urban base.

While trying to clarify DMK's position on "Northern domination", Annadurai said his party only meant that the existing Central Government was holding extraordinary powers over the States and his party only seeks to change this by "amendment of the Constitution through Constitutional methods". Infuriated by the softening of DMK's position, E. V. K. Sampath condemned what he called Annadurai's "dictatorship".

Parties and issues Indian National Congress contested the election alone. Periyar E. V. Ramasamy supported Congress headed by K. Kamaraj. He said I am old and may not live much longer. After I am gone, Kamaraj will safeguard the interests of the Tamils. He is my heir. Ultimately, Kamaraj is the one who matters—not others, candidates, or even voters who are unfit to judge what is right and good for them! Trust me, vote Congress, and you will be well. If you don't, the cunning Rajaji, riding the DMK horse, will trample you all without mercy.

As the 1962 election approached, the two wings of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam further polarised over the issue of electoral alliance. E. V. K. Sampath favoured alliance with Communist Party of India and Annadurai favoured alliance with the newly formed C. Rajagopalachari's Swatantra Party. Rajaji, the Chief Minister of Madras State between 1952 and 1954 had been a declared enemy of DMK and now he sought alliance with DMK. He said that the Congress party is more communal than parties which are openly communal. In 1961, Sampath left DMK to form his own party Tamil Nationalist Party with an objective and goal to establish an "autonomous Tamil State". Annadurai's idea to include Swatantra Party in the electoral alliance was not totally welcome in the DMK party and despite Rajaji's opposition DMK aligned with the Communist Party of India. It also formed coalition with Muthuramalinga Thevar's Forward Bloc and Mohammad Ismail's Muslim League.

DMK leader C. N. Annadurai accused the then ruling Congress party of bribing voters during his Kancheepuram Assembly constituency campaign. He appealed to voters not to sell their votes for the newly introduced ₹5 currency note, alleging that police support was used to facilitate such practices. It was also reported that voters were asked to place the currency note over the image of Tirupati Lord Perumal and pledge to vote for the Congress party.

Support from Tamil film industry M. G. Ramachandran actively campaigned for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. S. S. Rajendran, one of the popular actors contested and won from Theni Constituency. Shivaji Ganesan extended his support & actively campaigned to Congress Party. Congress party made a movie Vakkurimai by popular film actors which was played all across Tamil Nadu.

Voting and results Source: Election Commission of India

Results AlliancesPartyPopular VoteVote %Seats contestedSeats wonChangeINCSeats: 139 Seat Change: -12 Popular Vote: 5,848,974Popular Vote %: 46.14% 5,848,974 46.14% 206 139 12OthersSeats: 67 Seat Change: +25Popular Vote: 6,827,372Popular Vote %: 53.86% 3,435,633 27.10% 143 50 37 991,773 7.82% 94 6 6 173,261 1.37% 6 3 3 978,806 7.72% 68 2 2 48,753 0.38% 7 1 – 159,212 1.26% 21 0 2 117,640 0.93% 16 0 – 89,968 0.71% 6 0 – 57,457 0.45% 4 0 – 44,048 0.35% 9 0 – 43,186 0.34% 7 0 – 10,743 0.08% 4 0 – 676,892 5.34% 207 5 17Total13 Political Parties12,676,346100% —206 —

Results by district +Number of seats secured by the parties in each district of Madras State (1962)DistrictTotal SeatsINCDMKOTHChengalpattu191252Madras11650North Arcot15780South Arcot17971Salem231382Coimbatore222101Nilgiris2200Tiruchirapalli201091Thanjavur201541Madurai201532Ramanathapuram14815Tirunelveli171700Kanyakumari6402Total2061395017

By Region +Major Party-wise ResultsRegionTotal SeatsIndian National CongressDravida Munnetra Kazhagam OthersNorthern Madras62Western Madras47Southern Madras57Central Madras40

By constituency