AIADMK founder
M. G. Ramachandran formed the alliance, consisting of the
Indian National Congress (INC) and the
Communist Party of India (CPI), and faced the party's first ever general election post-
emergency in
1977. Though that election resulted in a heavy defeat for the
Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi-led Indian National Congress at the national level, the AIADMK-INC Alliance swept
Tamil Nadu by winning 34 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The
Janata Party won the election at the centre. After the election, the AIADMK ended up supporting the Janata Party under
Morarji Desai. In 1979, AIADMK continued to support the Janata Party by supporting the
Charan Singh government, which resulted in the appointment of two AIADMK cabinet members, making it the first time a non-congress
Dravidian party member and the regional party member made it to the
council of ministers at the national level. AIADMK won the
1977 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election with its allies, defeating its rival
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and
M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) was sworn in as the third
chief minister of Tamil Nadu. In the
1980 Indian general election, the AIADMK and
Janata Party alliance faced an upset defeat at the hands of the
INC and
DMK alliance, winning only 2 seats in Tamil Nadu. The INC and DMK alliance won 37 out of 39 seats in that election, which emboldened their alliance and made them think that people lost their faith in the
M.G.R.-led
government in the
state. Under DMK's pressure, the AIADMK
ministry and the
Tamil Nadu legislative assembly were dismissed by the
Indira Gandhi-led
government on grounds of civil disorder due to farmers' protests for electricity subsidies. The
Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election was held in 1980, in which the AIADMK and its allies, the
AIFB,
CPI,
CPI(M), and
GKNC won 162 seats, and again M.G.R. was sworn in as
chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the second time. After this election, INC came close to the AIADMK. In the wake of Chief Minister
MGR's hospitalization in
New York City and subsequent
Assassination of Indira Gandhi, newly assumed Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi felt that his Government required a fresh mandate from the people, and dissolved the Lok Sabha a year before its actual end of term, for fresh general elections. At the same time, AIADMK recommended dissolution of the Tamil Nadu State Assembly a year ahead of the end of term, to use the sympathy wave of Congress due to Indira's death and M.G.R's illness.
Congress(I) and
AIADMK formed an alliance and contested both general elections to
Lok Sabha and
Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1984. The allocation of seats were done what was later dubbed, "The M.G.R formula". Where the regional party would contest 70% of the assembly seats and the national party would be given 70% of the Lok Sabha seats. The result was a landslide victory for
INC and its ally
AIADMK, winning 37 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state and 195 seats in Tamil Nadu Assembly. M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R) was sworn in as Chief Minister, for the third time. After the death of M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R) in December 1987, The AIADMK split into two factions, one led by
Janaki and the other by
J. Jayalalithaa. Janaki briefly served as the chief minister and her government was dismissed by prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi on 30 January 1988 citing the disruptions in the assembly. After a year of
President's rule, Both the AIADMK factions contested with different alliances with separate symbols as the election commission froze the "two leaves" symbol of the AIADMK to them for
1989 assembly election. Congress contested the elections alone without allying with either factions and
Rajiv Gandhi campaigned extensively making multiple campaign visits to Tamil Nadu. Due to its split, the AIADMK suffered heavily in the election, with the Janaki and Jayalalithaa factions winning only 2 and 27 seats, respectively. Following the AIADMK's rout in the election, the factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki merged under Jayalalithaa's leadership on 7 February 1989, as Janaki decided to quit politics as it was not her forte. On 8 February 1989, the Two Leaves symbol was granted to the united AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa. AIADMK and Congress again allied in mid 1989. This marks the start of the dominance of INC-AIADMK, for the next decade winning 38 seats in
1989 Lok Sabha election and all 39 seats in
1991 Lok Sabha election. In the wake of
Rajiv Gandhi Assassination during the election campaign in Tamil Nadu,
Democratic Progressive Alliance of AIADMK - Congress swept the state in both the
Tamil Nadu assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 1991. AIADMK General Secretary
J. Jayalalithaa sworn in as the chief minister for the first time. AIADMK - Congress Alliance routed in
1996 assembly election and
Lok Sabha polls. In the
1998 Indian general election, the AIADMK revived its electoral fortunes when it formed an alliance with the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and the alliance won 30 seats out of 39 in Tamil Nadu. In the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led
government between 1998 and 1999, the AIADMK shared power with the BJP but withdrew its support of the 18 elected Lok Sabha MPs in early 1999, causing the BJP government to fall. Following this, the AIADMK once again allied with the INC in the
1999 general election, and the alliance won 13 seats out of 39 in Tamil Nadu. In the
2001 assembly election, the AIADMK-led
Secular Democratic Progressive Alliance, consisting of the
Indian National Congress, the
Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) (TMC(M)), the
Left Front, and the
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), regained power, winning 197 seats to the AIADMK's 132. Jayalalithaa sworn in as the chief minister for the second time. In
2004 Lok Sabha general election, AIADMK led National Democratic Alliance consisting of BJP, won none of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state.In
2006 assembly election, in spite of media speculations of a hung assembly, the AIADMK led
Democratic People Alliance, contesting with only the support of the MDMK, VCK and few other smaller parties, won 69 seats, with the AIADMK winning 61, compared to the DMK's 96. The AIADMK's electoral reversals continued in the
2009 general election. However, the party's performance was better than its debacle in 2004, and the
AIADMK-led Third Front consisting of
PMK,
MDMK and left parties managed to win 12 seats, with the AIADMK winning 9 seats. with the leaders of
CPI(M) Party In the
2011 assembly election, AIADMK led alliance with parties like the left and actor-turned-politician
Vijayakant's
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), swept the polls, winning 203 seats, with the AIADMK winning 150. Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the fourth time. In the union territory of
Puducherry, the AIADMK allied with
N. Rangasamy's
All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) and won the
2011 assembly election, which was held in parallel with the Tamil Nadu assembly election. Rangasamy, on the other hand, formed the government without consulting the AIADMK and refused to share power with the pre-election alliance partner. So Jayalalithaa accused him of betraying the coalition. The AIADMK's good electoral performance continued in the
2014 general election as well. It opted not to join any alliance and contested all seats in the state of
Tamil Nadu and the union territory of
Puducherry on its own. The party won an unprecedented 37 out of the 40 parliamentary constituencies it contested and emerged as the third largest party in the
16th Lok Sabha of the
Indian Parliament. It was a massive victory that no other regional political party had ever achieved in the history of general elections. In the
2016 assembly election, running without allies, she swept the polls, winning 135 out of 234 seats. It was the most audacious decision made by her for the spectacular victory that no other political leader had ever made in the history of
Tamil Nadu. On 23 May 2016, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister for the sixth time. After
Jayalalithaa's death on 5 December 2016, AIADMK had gone through a sea changes, from accepting Sasikala as acting general secretary, Party Split, Merger of EPS and OPS factions, Sasikala's expulsion to Introduction of dual Leadership in the party. In the
2019 Lok Sabha election, AIADMK led by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister
O. Panneerselvam as Coordinators, in alliance with the BJP again, won only one of the 39 Lok Sabha seats from the state and lost to the DMK led
Secular Progressive Alliance. Later, in the
2021 assembly election, the AIADMK-led
National Democratic Alliance, consisting of the
PMK, BJP, and a few other smaller parties, won 75 seats compared to the 159 seats won by the DMK alliance and was pushed out of power by the DMK after a decade. The AIADMK emerged as the main party of the opposition in the assembly by winning 66 seats. During the period of 2022–23, The AIADMK again undergone many changes like abolition of dual leadership and the election of
Edappadi K. Palaniswami as its
General Secretary. Following the tensions with the
BJP, The AIADMK left the
National Democratic Alliance, by snapping ties with the BJP and It was officially announced on 25 September 2023. AIADMK to form and lead the new alliance headed by the General secretary Palaniswami to face the
2024 Indian general election and
TN Assembly election in the state. In the
2024 general election, the AIADMK-led Alliance consisting of
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK),
Puthiya Tamilagam (PT), and the
Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) contested in the state of
Tamil Nadu and the union territories of
Puducherry and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the
18th Lok Sabha polls. In the alliance, the AIADMK contested 36 constituencies and the DMDK contested five constituencies. The alliance lost in all the constituencies it contested, and the
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance swept the election in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. On 11 April 2025,
AIADMK General Secretary
Edappadi K. Palaniswami and
BJP leader and Home Minister
Amit Shah announced their alliance for
2026 TN Assembly election on a Joint Press Conference at Chennai. In January 2026, AIADMK formed ally with former partner PMK & long-time rival
T. T. V. Dhinakaran-led AMMK. ==Electoral performance==