The J. Jayalalithaa led Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, which had been in power since 1991 was beset with corruption scandals and public discontent. A series of corruption scandals, a growing reputation for high handedness and an extravagant public wedding for Jayalalitha's foster son Sudhakaran all combined together to erode the ADMK support base and the goodwill she had enjoyed with the electorate in the 1991 elections.
Formation of TMC
The ADMK's alliance with Indian National Congress, which had helped it to win the 1991 elections ran into trouble mid way through the ADMK's term. Jayalalitha terminated the alliance and Congress served as the principal opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. When the 1996 elections drew closer, it was expected that the Congress would contest the elections in alliance with the DMK. However against the wishes of the Tamil Nadu state unit of the Congress, the national congress leader P. V. Narasimha Rao announced that the Congress would ally with the ADMK. This led to a split in the Tamil Nadu Congress with a majority of the party workers and cadre forming the Tamil Maanila Congress led by G. K. Moopanar. The TMC contested the elections in alliance with the DMK.
Formation of MDMK
In 1993, the DMK suffered a split when one of its more prominent second rung leaders, Vaiko was expelled from the party membership. The next year Vaiko floated a new party – the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Coalitions
There were four main coalitions in the 1996 elections. The DMK-TMC front which also included the Communist Party of India and the ADMK-Congress front were the main political groupings in the state. Both fronts had a number of smaller parties as constituents. The Indian National League and the All India Forward Bloc were part of the DMK front, while the ADMK front also had Muslim Leagues, Forward Block, All India Republic Party, Uzhavar Uzhaippalar Katchi and United Communist Party. Apart from these two fronts, there was a MDMK led coalition which included the Communist Party of India , the Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Janata Party. The alliance between Pattali Makkal Katchi and All India Indira Congress led by Vazhappady Ramamurthy was the fourth coalition that contested the elections. Initially, before the TMC was formed, the DMK put together a seven party alliance comprising itself, PMK, CPI, Tiwari Congress and a few other parties. However, this alliance fell through when the Tiwari Congress and PMK left the front after differences between Karunanidhi and Ramamurthy. After this, Cho Ramaswamy played a vital role in bringing together the DMK-TMC coalition and obtaining actor Rajinikanth's support for it. There were a few other smaller political formations and parties contesting the election – the Bharatiya Janata Party contested the elections alone; Subramanian Swamy's Janata Party contested in alliance with the caste organisation Devendra Kula Vellar Sangam led by Dalit leader K. Krishnasamy.
Rajinikanth's support
The DMK-TMC alliance enlisted the popular Tamil film actor Rajinikanth to campaign against the ADMK in the elections. Rajinikanth declared his support for the DMK-TMC combine and members of his numerous fan clubs campaigned for the DMK front across Tamil Nadu. In a widely watched campaign appearance broadcast in Sun TV, he declared "even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if ADMK returns to power". Rajinikanth's support played a key role in the DMK front's victory.
Seat allotments
AIADMK-INC Front
DMK-TMC Front
MDMK-CPI(M) Front
PMK-Tiwari Congress Front
Voting and Results
Polling took place on 2 May 1996 and results were announced on 12 May. The turnout among registered voters was 66.95%. The assembly elections were held simultaneously along with the Indian parliamentary elections.
ADMK suffered a rout in the elections. Most of sitting ministers of the ADMK government, including the chief minister Jayalalithaa lost their seats. Jayalalitha lost to DMK's E. G. Sugavanam by a margin of 8,366 votes in the Bargur constituency. A year after the election, the ADMK split, when a faction led by the Arantaki MLA Su. Thirunavukkarasar broke away from the party. The MDMK which was contesting its first statewide elections since its formation in 1994 drew a blank. MDMK leader Vaiko was defeated in both the Vilathikulam assembly constituency and the Sivakasi parliamentary constituency. This election also saw the PMK electing four members to the assembly. The massive victory of the DMK-TMC-CPI combine in the assembly elections spilled over to the parliamentary elections. The coalition was able to win all 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone parliamentary seat in the nearby Pondicherry. This tally of 40 seats enabled the DMK-TMC combine to be part of the United Front government during 1996–98.
