Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1971

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39 (of 518) seats in the Lok Sabha
Registered	23,064,983
Turnout	16,565,949 (71.82%) 4.74%
First party Second party   Leader M. Karunanidhi K. Kamaraj Party DMK INC(O) Alliance Progressive Front Democratic Front Leader's seat Did not contest Nagercoil Seats won 38 1 Seat change 9 5 Popular vote 8,869,095 6,474,832 Percentage 55.60% 40.60% Swing 31.44% 24.73%
Tamil Nadu

The 1971 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. After winning in 1967, DMK supported the Congress party under Indira Gandhi, and the 25 DMK MPs, ensured her to stay in power as a minority government, from 1969 to 1971.^[1] This state was crucial for Indira Gandhi to hold, in order for her to stay in power. The result was a victory for Indian National Congress (Indira) and its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam winning 38 seats (with 5 seats going to the Left Front), while Opposition Congress and Swatantra Party could only win 1 seat. DMK won every seat it contested except the seat contested by K. Kamarajar in Nagercoil.

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		M. Karunanidhi	24
2.		Indian National Congress (R)		Indira Gandhi	9
3.		Communist Party of India		Shripad Amrit Dange	4
4.		All India Forward Bloc		P. K. Mookiah Thevar	1
5.		Indian Union Muslim League		Muhammed Ismail	1

No.	Party		Election Symbol	Leader	Seats
1.		Indian National Congress (Organization)		K. Kamaraj	29
2.		Swatantra Party		C. Rajagopalachari	9
3.		Samyukta Socialist Party		George Fernandes	1

Alliance		Party		Popular Vote	Percentage	Swing	Seats won	Seat Change
	Progressive Front		Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	5,622,758	35.25%	0.53%	23	2
			Indian National Congress (Requistionist)	1,995,567	12.51%	29.18%	9	6
			Communist Party of India	866,399	5.43%	3.74%	4	4
			All India Forward Bloc	208,431	1.31%		1
			Independents	175,940	1.10%	0.07%	1
			Total	8,869,095	55.60%	24.73%	38	9
	Democratic Front		Indian National Congress (Organisation)	4,853,534	30.43%	new party	1	new party
			Swatantra Party	1,479,693	9.28%	0.12%	0	6
			Samyukta Socialist Party	141,605	0.89%	new party	0	new party
			Total	6,474,832	40.60%	31.44%	1	5
	Communist Party of India (Marxist)			260,833	1.64%	5.21%	0	4
	Independents			344,452	2.16%	1.00%	0
Total				15,949,212	100.00%		39
Valid Votes				15,949,212	96.28%
Invalid Votes				616,437	3.72%
Total Votes				16,565,649	100.00%
Registered Voters/Turnout				23,064,983	71.82%	4.74%

• Elections in Tamil Nadu

• Volume I, 1971 Indian general election, 5th Lok Sabha
• DMK on the Defensive Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 6, No. 3/5, Annual Number (Jan., 1971), pp. 189–190 Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

• Website of Election Commission of India
• CNN-IBN Lok Sabha Election History