Dravidian Political Parties

Dravidian Political Parties

Forerunners

Iyothee Thass
Rettamalai Srinivasan
Natesa Mudaliar
Maraimalai Adigal
Theagaroya Chetty
T. M. Nair
K.Krishnasamy

Dravidian parties

Defunct parties
Justice party
Tamil National Party
Thazhthapattor Munnetra Kazhagam
Makkal Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani
Thayaga Marumalarchi Kazhagam

Contemporary parties
Dravidar Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam


Chief Ministers

Madras Presidency
Subbarayalu • Panagal Raja • Munuswamy Naidu • R. R. Rao • P. T. Rajan
Tamil Nadu
C. N. Annadurai • V. R. Nedunchezhiyan • Karunanidhi • M. G. Ramachandran • Janaki Ramachandran • J. Jayalalithaa • O. Panneerselvam

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Dravidian parties (Tamil: திராவிடக்கட்சிகள்) include an array of regional political parties in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, which trace their origins and ideologies either directly or indirectly to the Dravidian movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The Dravidian movement was based on the linguistic divide in India, where most of the Northern Indian, Eastern Indian and Western Indian languages are classified as Indo-Aryan, whereas the South Indian languages are classified as Dravidian. Dravidian politics has developed by associating itself to the Dravidian community. The original goal of Dravidian politics was to achieve social equality, but it later championed the cause of ending the domination of North India on the politics and economy of the South Indian province known as Madras Presidency (Madras Presidency of British India consisted almost all of today's Tamil Nadu State and parts of Andhra Pradesh). Thus Dravidian politics incorporates elements of Tamil Nationalism and has found support only in Tamil Nadu.

Most Dravidian parties are offshoots of Dravidar Kazhagam (DK);. There are also a few other parties in Tamil Nadu that did not arise from DK directly. Nevertheless, both the former and the latter are considered as Dravidian parties because of the similarities of their ideals and goals. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its political rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have been the major players among the Dravidian parties since the mid-1960s. Since the 1967 legislative assembly elections, only the DMK and the AIADMK have formed governments in Tamil Nadu. These two parties are political rivals. Barring political alliances with the DMK or AIADMK, since the 1990s no other political party has won more than a few seats in the Indian parliament or state legislative assembly of Tamil Nadu. Since 1996, members of the DMK and AIADMK have held portfolios in the cabinet of the central Indian government. Other major Dravidian party is Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Political media is pervasive in Dravidian politics, with five of the seven chief ministers from these parties being directly involved in Tamil cinema, either as script writers or actors. Recently television channels owned by these parties have been used for political propaganda purposes.

Read more about Dravidian Political Parties:  Dravidian Parties in Central Government, Political Use of Media, Electoral Symbols of The Dravidian Parties, Flags

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