| Election Name: | Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1998 |
| Country: | India |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1996 |
| Previous Year: | 1996 |
| Next Election: | Indian general election in Tamil Nadu, 1999 |
| Next Year: | 1999 |
| Election Date: | February 1998 |
| Seats For Election: | 39 (of 543) seats in the Lok Sabha |
| Registered: | 4,55,77,788 |
| Turnout: | 2,64,10,702 (57.95%) 8.98% |
| Leader1: | J. Jayalalithaa |
| Party1: | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
| Alliance1: | National Democratic Alliance (India) |
| Seats1: | 30 |
| Seat Change1: | 30 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,21,69,812 |
| Percentage1: | 47.53% |
| Swing1: | 29.47% |
| Leader2: | M. Karunanidhi |
| Party2: | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
| Alliance2: | United Front |
| Seats2: | 9 |
| Seat Change2: | 30 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,09,37,809 |
| Percentage2: | 42.72% |
| Swing2: | 12.24% |
| Map Size: | 200px |
| Before Party: | United Front (India) |
| After Party: | National Democratic Alliance (India) |
The 1998 Indian general election polls in Tamil Nadu were held for 39 seats in the state. New elections were called when Indian National Congress (INC) left the United Front government led by I. K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regional Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi.[1] The result was a landslide victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 30 seats, which helped result in Atal Bihari Vajpayee being sworn in as the 16th Prime Minister of India. J. Jayalalithaa and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, broke off from their long alliance with Indian National Congress and formed an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party, by joining the National Democratic Alliance. This state proved to be very important in determining the prime minister, since the 18 seats of AIADMK proved valuable for BJP to hold power. That was short-lived, since the AIADMK left the alliance in less than a year, and BJP lost the vote of confidence resulting in fresh elections being called.
Source: Frontline [2]
Source: Indian Express[3]
| No. | Party | Election Symbol | Leader | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 23 | ||||
| 2. | 5 | ||||
| 3. | K.N. Laxmanan | 5 | |||
| 4. | 5 | ||||
| 5. | 1 | ||||
| Unregistered party, whose candidate ran as an independent | |||||
| 6. | 1 | ||||
| No. | Party | Election Symbol | Leader | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 20 | ||||
| 2. | 17 | ||||
| 3. | 2 | ||||
| No. | Party | Election Symbol | Leader | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 35 | ||||
| 2. | 3 | ||||
| 3. | 1 | ||||
| Alliance | Party | align=centre | Popular Vote | align=centre | Percentage | align=centre | Swing | align=centre | Seats won | align=centre | Seat Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Democratic Alliance | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 6,628,928 | 25.89% | 18.05% | 18 | 18 | |||||||
| Pattali Makkal Katchi | 1,548,976 | 6.05% | 4.02% | 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 1,757,645 | 6.86% | 3.93% | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1,602,504 | 6.26% | 1.76% | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| Janata Party | 266,202 | 1.04% | 0.28% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Independents | 365,557 | 1.43% | 1 | ||||||||||
| Total | 12,169,812 | 47.53% | 29.47% | 30 | 30 | ||||||||
| United Front | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 5,140,266 | 20.08% | 5.55% | 5 | 12 | |||||||
| Tamil Maanila Congress | 5,169,183 | 20.19% | 6.81% | 3 | 17 | ||||||||
| Communist Party of India | 628,360 | 2.45% | 0.12% | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Total | 10,937,809 | 42.72% | 12.24% | 9 | 30 | ||||||||
| INC+ | Indian National Congress | 1,223,102 | 4.78% | 13.48% | 0 | ||||||||
| MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 278,324 | 1.09% | new party | 0 | new party | ||||||||
| United Communist Party of India | 10,018 | 0.04% | new party | 0 | new party | ||||||||
| Total | 1,511,444 | 5.91% | 12.35% | 0 | |||||||||
| Independents | 265,029 | 1.03% | 1.97% | 0 | |||||||||
| Other Parties (10 parties) | 719,704 | 2.81% | 2.91% | 0 | |||||||||
| Total | 25,603,798 | 100.00% | 39 | ||||||||||
| Valid Votes | 25,603,798 | 96.94% | |||||||||||
| Invalid Votes | 806,904 | 3.06% | |||||||||||
| Total Votes | 26,410,702 | 100.00% | |||||||||||
| Reigstered Voters/Turnout | 45,577,788 | 57.95% | 8.98% | ||||||||||
†: Seat change represents seats won in terms of the current alliances, which is considerably different from the last election.
‡: Vote % reflects the percentage of votes the party received compared to the entire electorate in Tamil Nadu that voted in this election. Adjusted (Adj.) Vote %, reflects the % of votes the party received per constituency that they contested.
Sources: Election Commission of India[5]
| Minister | Party | Lok Sabha Constituency/Rajya Sabha | Portfolios |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. R. Kadambur Janarthanan | AIADMK | Tirunelveli | Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension |
| R. K. Kumar | AIADMK | Rajya Sabha (Tamil Nadu) | Minister of Finance |