The thirteenth legislative assembly election, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu was held on 8 May 2006. It was held for all 234 constituencies to elect the government in the state for the following five years. The votes were counted three days later on 11 May 2006 and all the results were out by the end of the day. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led (DMK) front won the elections, with the DMK emerging as the single-largest party with 96 seats, and its leader, M. Karunanidhi was sworn in as Chief Minister for a fifth and final term. This election marked the first time the state saw a hung assembly with no party gaining a majority of its own. As a result, DMK formed a minority government with its allies, which is the first in the state since the 1952 election. 9 ministers from the outgoing Jayalalithaa cabinet were defeated in their respective constituencies. 13th Assembly was instituted due to this election.

The election marked the electoral debut of the actor Vijayakanth and his political outfit, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). Though the party could only gain a single seat, it cut into the vote share of both DMK and AIADMK and emerged as a third alternative to the existing two Dravidian parties.

Schedule

EventDate Date for Nominations 13 April 2006 Last Date for filing Nominations 20 April 2006 Date for scrutiny of nominations 21 April 2006 Last date for withdrawal of candidatures 24 April 2006 Date of poll 8 May 2006 Date of counting 11 May 2006

Polling 48848 polling stations were set up for electorate, that sized up to 46,607 eligible voters.

Political parties and the alliances

Tamil Nadu has a remarkable history of being dominated by the local parties, DMK or AIADMK, while the national parties have a strong presence in other states. The parties have resorted to forming alliances in the last few elections to take on each sides for power.

Striking changes in the alliances included the swap of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) from DMK led Democratic Progressive Alliance to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led Democratic People Alliance. While Dalit Panthers of India joined the AIADMK alliance, all other major parties in the fray such as Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Indian National Congress, CPM and Communist Party of India (CPI), aligned themselves with the DMK party.

There were two notable new parties — Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) formed in September 2005 by actor-turned-politician Vijaykanth, and Lok Paritran formed by Indian Institutes of Technology graduates in February 2006. Both contested alone in this elections.

The contest was between two major alliances in a seat-sharing agreement, the AIADMK alliance and the DMK alliance. These archrivals had a face-off in 106 seats.

Exit Polls CNN-IBN-Hindu Exit Polls Article accessed 13 May 2006. predicted a 157-167 seats in favour of the DMK alliance, while the AIADMK alliance was expected to get 64-74 seats in the assembly.

Before the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, the Pattali Makkal Katchi left the DMK, citing differences with its leader M. Karunanidhi, and joined the AIADMK, and the Third Front.

Seat allotments Democratic Progressive Alliance

Party FlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedDravida Munnetra Kazhagam M. Karunanidhi128132Indian Union Muslim League K. M. Kader Mohideen2Puratchi Bharatham Katchi M. Jagan Moorthy1Forward Bloc (Vallarasu)P. V. Kathiravan1Indian National CongressM. Krishnasamy48Pattali Makkal KatchiS. Ramadoss31Communist Party of India (Marxist)N. Varadarajan13Communist Party of IndiaTha. Pandian10Total 234 District Wise Seat Sharing +DistrictSeatsDMKINCPMKCPMCPIChennai14111110Tiruvallur842200Kanchipuram942300Vellore1262310Tiruvannamalai943200Villupuram1271400Cuddalore941310Krishnagiri521101Dharmapuri520210Salem1262400Namakkal531100Coimbatore17104021Erode851101Nilgiris321000Dindigul742010Karur440000Tiruchirapalli972000Perambalur521200Thanjavur953100Nagapattinam631110Tiruvarur520003Pudukottai531001Sivaganga623001Ramanathapuram422000Virudunagar641001Madurai952020Theni651000Thoothukudi742001Tirunelveli1173010Kanyakumari732020Total23413248311310

Democratic People Alliance

Party FlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam J. Jayalalithaa182188Indian National League Janab2Indian National Trade Union Congress P. L. Subbaih2Moovendar Munnetra KazhagamG. M. Sreedhar Vandaiyar1Forward Bloc (Santhanam)L. Santhanam1Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra KazhagamVaiko35Viduthalai Chiruthaigal KatchiThol. Thirumavalavan9Janata Dal (Secular)H. D. Deve Gowda1Tamil Maanila Muslim LeagueDawood Miakhan1Total 234 District Wise Seat Sharing +DistrictSeatsADKMDKVCKJDSINDChennai1494001Tiruvallur871000Kanchipuram971100Vellore1192000Tiruvannamalai1090100Villupuram1291200Cuddalore952200Krishnagiri540010Dharmapuri531100Salem12111000Namakkal541000Coimbatore17133100Erode871000Nilgiris330000Dindigul761000Karur431000Tiruchirapalli972000Perambalur550000Thanjavur981000Nagapattinam641100Tiruvarur550000Pudukottai550000Sivaganga651000Ramanathapuram431000Virudunagar642000Madurai972000Theni651000Thoothukudi761000Tirunelveli1192000Kanyakumari761000Total23418835911

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Source: Junior Vikatan Party Election Symbol Leader Seats ContestedDesiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam Vijayakant232 2 The two seats that DMDK contested in Ring symbol instead of Murasu.

National Democratic Alliance

Party FlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedC. P. Radhakrishnan190222 V. Balasundaram10Dr. Sethuraman5 Ku. Pa. Krishnan5 B. T. Arasakumar5 3 2 Puratchi Kavidas2Subramanian Swamy5

Alliance-wise contest Note: As per the official party and symbol on which candidates contest in the respective seats. Partiescolspan="5" AIADMK+ AIADMK MDMK VCK JD(S) TMMKrowspan="6" DPA DMK 112 16 3 1 INC 35 9 4 PMK 26 4 1 CPI(M) 7 5 1 CPI 8 1 1 Total234

List of Candidates