CHENNAI: The 1984 Lok Sabha elections took place in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The scenario too had changed since the last elections in 1980. Tamil Nadu CM MGR had established renewed ties with Congress leader Indira Gandhi soon after his victory against the DMK-Congress alliance in 1980 elections. This left Karunanidhi in the cold.
Another major change in the subcontinent was the tensions between Tamils and Sinhalese since early 1980s. Following the infamous 1983 carnage of Tamils in Colombo, thousands of Lankan Tamils sought refugee in Tamil Nadu. The popular mood in Tamil Nadu was sympathy for the Tamil minorities in the island nation. MGR took up the matter with Indira Gandhi. The killings were declared as genocide and she urged the Sri Lankan government to stop atrocities against the Tamils. It was common knowledge that MGR and Indira Gandhi supported the Tamils, who started fighting for a separate nation.
Meanwhile, the MGR’s government conducted third World Tamil Conference in January 1981. Actor J Jayalalithaa performed a classical dance. After this the relationship between MGR and Jayalalithaa was rebuilt after a brief disconnect. She was made a propaganda secretary of AIADMK in 1983 and a Rajya Sabha MP in 1984.
October 1984 turned out to be a turning point in the political history. On October 5, MGR fell sick and was admitted in hospital. He was later flown to the USA. On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her security guards. Her son Rajiv Gandhi took charge as the Prime Minister. The Parliament was dissolved as he sought a fresh mandate. MGR’s cabinet also resigned so that fresh elections for the Assembly can take place parallely. Congress formed an alliance with AIADMK and as per MGR’s famed formula, the national party contested in two-thirds of the Parliamentary seats and in turn the national party would contest only in one-third of Assembly seats.
AIADMK cashed in on the sympathy their hospitalised leader received and pasted posters showing him lying in the hospital bed. The sympathy wave for MGR and Indira Gandhi helped the alliance register a massive victory in both elections. Congress won 25 of the MP seats and AIADMK 12. DMK secured only 2. In the assembly, AIADMK won 132 of the 234 and secured a comfortable majority. Congress won 61 seats. DMK was a distant third at 24.
Till now, MGR’s AIADMK remains the only party to have won three consecutive Assembly elections fielding the same CM candidate.