1957 Madras Legislative Assembly election
The second legislative assembly election to the Madras state was held on 31 March 1957. This was the first election held after the linguistic reorganisation of Madras state in 1954. Indian National Congress and its leader K. Kamaraj won the election, and defeated its rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. In 1954, due to the resignation of C. Rajagopalachari, for his controversial Kula Kalvi Thittam, the leadership of Congress was contested, between K. Kamaraj, and C. Subramaniam. Eventually, K. Kamaraj, won the support of the party, was elected leader and chief minister of Madras State in 1954. In a surprise move, he appointed both M. Bhaktavatsalam and C. Subramaniam, in his cabinet, allowing great unity amongst Congress, that ruled the state of Madras, for the next decade. This election saw future DMK leaders, M. Karunanidhi and K. Anbazhagan winning their first MLA seat in the legislative assembly.
Delimitation and reorganisation
On 1 October 1953, a separate Andhra State consisting of the Telugu-speaking areas of the composite Madras State was formed and the Kannada-speaking area of Bellary District was merged with the then Mysore State. This reduced the strength of the Legislative Assembly to 231.On 1 November 1956, the States Reorganisation Act 1956 took effect and consequently the constituencies in the erstwhile Malabar district were merged with the Kerala State. This further reduced the strength to 190. The Tamil-speaking area of Kerala and Shenkottah taluk were added to Madras State.
According to the new Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order 1956, made by the Delimitation Commission of India under the provisions of the State Reorganisation Act, 1956, the strength of the Madras Legislative Assembly was increased to 205. The 1957 elections were conducted for these 205 seats. In 1959, as result of The Andhra Pradesh and Madras Act 1959, one member from the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was allotted to Madras increasing its Legislative Assembly strength to 206.
Two member constituencies
Out of the total 167 constituencies in the state, 38 were two member constituencies 37 of which had one reserved for Scheduled caste candidates and 1 for Scheduled tribe candidate. These constituencies were larger in size and had greater number of voters when compared to general constituencies. Two separate list of candidates, a general list and a reserved list, contested in those constituencies. Each voter had to cast two votes - one for each list.The two winners were chosen as follows:
- Reserved Member - Candidate with the most votes among the reserved list candidates
- General Member - Candidate with the most votes among the rest of the candidates excluding the Reserved Member.
Parties and issues
, Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc, Praja Socialist Party, Socialist Party, Congress Reform Committee and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were the major parties contesting this election. This was the first election contested by the DMK since its formation in 1949. The decision to contest elections was taken in 1956 at the party's Trichy conference. The party fielded its candidates in 8 Parliamentary and 117 assembly seats as independents, since it was not an officially recognised party. The increased Tamilian character of the Congress party after the appointment of K. Kamaraj, a non-Brahman as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, robbed DMK of its main electoral plank as the sole proponent of Tamil nationalism. It increasingly changed its focus to economic issues and slower industrialisation of the South as an election issue. The DMK election manifesto had a socialist image and creation of Dravida Nadu became a side issue as it had implicitly accepted the prevailing constitutional order.Periyar E. V. Ramasamy issued a statement in support of K. Kamaraj before the commencement of the election. In October 1956, the central executive of Dravidar Kazhagam resolved to support K. Kamaraj.
Since Mr. Kamaraj has done his best to serve the Tamilians, since he has changed Acharyar's educational system designed to perpetuate the caste system, since he has conferred many jobs and many benefits on Tamilians in the educational and other spheres and since the Brahman and DMK people are trying to oust him from power, it has become the duty of all Tamilians to support Mr. Kamaraj and his followers in the election
K. Kamaraj accepted the support of Dravidar kazhagam and said if the Kazhagam canvassed vote for him out of their own free will, he could not possibly tell them he did not want their votes. He also made it clear that Congress party can not support a party which is communal in nature and he did not in any way share E. V. Ramasamy's views.
K. Kamaraj's decision to accept the support and provide candidacy to some former members of Dravidar Kazhagam caused division within Congress resulting in a new party called, Congress Reform Committee. Though the party was created in the last moment, it fielded candidates in 12 parliamentary and 55 assembly seats.
Voting and results
Source: Election Commission of IndiaResults
DMK was not officially recognized as a party by the Election commission of India until 1962, so they were registered as an Independent party. Congress Reform Committee was the second and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was the third party in the assembly. Congress won 45% vote share, CRC 8% and DMK 14%.List of candidates
| Constituency | Winner | Party | Runner Up | Party |
| Adiramapattinam | A. R. Marimuthu | PSP | N. Sunderasa Thevar | INC |
| Aduthurai | Ramamirtha Thondaiman | INC | Mohammed Amirdeen | IND |
| Alangudi | 1) Arunachala Thevar 2) Chinniah | INC INC | Subbiah Balakrishnan | IND |
| Alangulam | Veluchamy Thevar | IND | Nallasivan | CPI |
| Ambasamudram | Gomathisankara Deekshidar | INC | Challapandian | IND |
| Ambur | 1) V. K. Krishnamurthy 3) S. R. Munusami | INC IND | 2) Sampangi Naidu 4) A. R. Rathnasamy | IND INC |
| Andanallur | Annamalai Muthuraja | INC | E. P. Mathuram | IND |
| Arakkonam | S. C. Sadayappa Mudaliar | INC | Thomas | IND |
| Arantangi | S. Ramasami Thevar | IND | Muthuvel Ambalam | INC |
| Aravakurichi | S. Sadasivam | INC | N. Rathinam | IND |
| Arcot | S. Khader Sheriff | INC | Lachaumanan | IND |
| Ariyalur | Ramalinga Padayachi | INC | Narayanan | IND |
| Arni | P. Doraisamy Reddiar | IN | INC | - |
| Aruppukottai | M. D. Ramasami | IND | A. V. Thiruppathi | INC |
| Atoor | M. A. B. Arumugasamy Chettiar | INC | V. S. S. Mani Chettiyar | IND |
| Attur | 1) Irusappan 2) M. P. Subramaniam | IND IND | 3) A. Sambasiva Reddiar 4) M. Arumugham | INC IND |
| Avanashi | K. Marappa Gounder | INC | Karuppa Gounder | IND |
| Basin Bridge | T. N. Anandanayaki | INC | N. V. Natarajan | IND |
| Bhavani | 1) G. G. Gurumurthi 2) P. G. Manickam | INC INC | 3) K. Komarasami Gounder 4) A. Subramanian | IND IND |
| Bhuvanagiri | Samikannu Padayachi | INC | R. Balagurusamy | IND |
| Bodinayakkanur | A. S. Subbaraj | INC | M. Muthiala | IND |
| Cuddalore | Seenivasa Padayachi | INC | Sambandan | IND |
| Chengalpattu | 1) Muthuswamy Naicker 2) Appavu | INC | 3) Ramachandran 4) Rathinam | IND |
| Chengam | T. Karia Goundar | INC | R. Venkatachala Mudaliar | IND |
| Chennimalai | K. P. Nallasivam | IND | A. Thengappa Gounder | INC |
| Cheyyar | P. Ramachandran | INC | V. Darmalinga Nayagar | IND |
| Chidambaram | 1) G. Vagheesam Pillai 2) Swami Sahajananda | INC INC | 39 Chokalingam 4) Sivasubramaniam | IND IND |
| Coimbatore - I | Savitri Shanmugam | INC | Bupathy | CPI |
| Coimbatore - II | 1) Marudachalam 2) Palaniswamy | CPI INC | 3) Kuppuswamy 4) P. Veluswamy | INC PSP |
| Colachel | Lourdammal | INC | S. Doraiswamy | IND |
| Coonoor | J. Matha Gowder | INC | H. B. Ari Gowder | IND |
| Dharapuram | A. Sanapathi Gounder | INC | P. S. Govindasamy Gounder | IND |
| Dharmapuri | M. Kandasami Kandar | INC | R. S. Veerappa Chetty | IND |
| Dindigul | M. J. Jamal Mohideen | INC | A. Balasubramaniam | CPI |
| Egmore | Anbazhagan | IND | Radhakrishnan | INC |
| Erode | V. S. Manickasundaram | INC | K. T. Raju | CPI |
| Gandarvakottai | Krishnasami Gopalar | INC | Ramachandra Dorai | IND |
| Gingee | M. Jangal Reddiar | IND | V. Gopal Gounder | IND |
| Gobichettipalayam | P. G. Karuthiruman | INC | Mariappan | CPI |
| Gudiyatham | 1) V. K. Kothandaraman 2) T. Manavalan | CPI INC | 3) Venkatachalam 4) M. Krishnasami | INC IND |
| Gummidipundi | Kamalambuiammal | INC | Venugopal Reddy | IND |
| Harbour | U. Krishna Rao | INC | G. Rajamannar Chettiar | PSP |
| Harur | 1) P. M. Munusami Gounder 2) M. K. Mariappan | INC INC | 3) T. Ponnusamy 4) C. Theerthagiri | IND IND |
| Hosur | K. Appavoo Pillai | IND | N. Ramachandra Reddy | INC |
| Jayankondam | K. R. Viswanathan | INC | Jayaramulu Chettiar | IND |
| Kadambur | 1) K. Ramasubbu 2) Sangili | INC INC | 3)S. Arunachala Nadar 4) V. Suppayan | IND IND |
| Kadayam | D. S. Athimoolam | IND | A. Balagan | INC |
| Kallakurichi | 1) Nataraja Odayar 3) M. Anandan | IND IND | 2) Parthasarathy 4) L. Anandan | INC INC |
| Kancheepuram | C. N. Annadurai | IND | P. S. Srinivasan | INC |
| Kangayam | K. G. Palanisamy Gounder | INC | P. Muthuswamy Gounder | IND |
| Kanyakumari | T. S. Ramaswamy Pillai | IND | Natarajan | INC |
| Karaikudi | M. A. Muthiah Chettiar | INC | Ganesan Saw | IND |
| Karur | T. M. Nallaswamy | INC | K. S. Ramasami | CPI |
| Killiyur | A. Nesamony | INC | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Kodaikanal | M. Alagirisamy | INC | Gurusamy | IND |
| Koilpalayam | C. Subramaniam | INC | C. Guruswamy Naidu | PSP |
| Kovilpatti | V. Suppaya Naicker | IND | Selvaraj | INC |
| Krishnagiri | S. Nagaraja Manigar | INC | N. Mohanram | IND |
| Kulithalai | M. Karunanidhi | IND | K. A. Dharmalingam | INC |
| Kumbakonam | T. Sambath | INC | Neelamegham | IND |
| Lalgudi | S. Lazar | INC | Anbil P. Dharmalingam | IND |
| Madurai Central | V. Sankaran | INC | S. Muthu | IND |
| Madurai East | P. K. R. Lakshmi Kanthan | INC | N. Sankaraiah | CPM |
| Maduranthakam | 1) O. Venkatasubba Reddy 4) Ellappan | INC IND | 2) O.N. Doraibabu 3) V.L. Raja | IND IND |
| Manamadurai | R. Chidambara Bharathi | INC | S. Alagu | IND |
| Manapparai | N. P. M. Chinnaya Kavundar | INC | A. Rajagopal Pillai | IND |
| Mannargudi | T. S. Swaminatha Odayar | INC | S. K. Sivanada Saluvar | IND |
| Mayuram | 1) G. Narayanasami Naidu 2) P. Jayaraj | INC INC | 3)M. Kathamuthu 4) A. R. Marianathan | CPI CPI |
| Melur | 1) P. Kakkan 2) M. Periyakaruppan Ambalam | INC INC | 3)K. Paramasivam Ambalan 4) P. Vadivel | IND IND |
| Mettupalayam | D. Raghubadhi Devi | INC | Madhannan | IND |
| Mettur | K. S. Ardhanareeswara Gounder | INC | Surendiran | PSP |
| Mylapore | C. R. Ramaswamy | INC | Kumari S. Vijayalakshmi | PSP |
| Mudukulathur | 1) U. Muthuramalinga Thevar 2) A. Perumal | IND IND | 3) Chinniah 4) A. Krishnan | INC INC |
| Musiri | 1) V. A. Muthaiya 2) T. V. Sannasi | INC INC | 3) M. P. Muthukaruppan 4) Durairaj | IND IND |
| Nagapattinam | N. S. Ramalingam | INC | P. Jeevanandam | CPI |
| Nagercoil | Chidambaranatha Nadar | INC | C. Sankar | CPI |
| Nallur | Vedamanickam | IND | K. S. Venkatakrishna Reddiar | IND |
| Namakkal | 1) P. Kolanda Gounder 3) M. P. Periasami | INC INC | 2) V. Kaliappan 4) Marudaveeran | IND IND |
| Nambiyur | K. L. Ramaswamy | INC | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Nanguneri | M. G. Sankar Reddiar | INC | S. Madasamy | IND |
| Nannilam | 1) M. D. Thiagaraja Pillai 2) M. C. Muthukumaraswami | INC INC | 3) S. Arunachalam Pillai 4) P. Appaswamy | CPI CPI |
| Nellikuppam | 1) Sivachidambara Ramasamy Padayachi 3) S. Thangavelu | INC INC | 2) Krishnamoorthy Gounder 4) Rajaangam | IND IND |
| Nilakkottai | 1) W. P. A. R. Chandrasekaran 2) A. S. Ponnammal | INC INC | 3) T. G. Krishnamoorthy 4) M. Vadivel | IND IND |
| Oddanchatram | Karuthappa Gounder | INC | Angamuthu Naicker | IND |
| Padmanabhapuram | Thompson Dharmaraj Daniel | INC | S. Muthukaruppa Pillai | IND |
| Palani | Lakshmipathiraj | INC | Venkitasami Gounder | IND |
| Palladam | P. S. Chinnadurai | PSP | Kumarasami Gounder | INC |
| Papanasam | 1)Venkitachala Nattar 2)R. Subramaniam | INC INC | 3) Haritharanathan 4) Tajudeen | IND IND |
| Panjapatti | Karunagiri Muthaiah | INC | P. Poonambala Gounder | IND |
| Paramakudi | K. Ramachandran | IND | G. Govindan | INC |
| Pattukottai | R. Srinivasa Ayyar | INC | V. Arunachala Thevar | IND |
| Pennagaram | Hemalatha Devi | INC | D. K. Gorunatha Chettiar | IND |
| Perambalur | 1)Krishnasami 3) K. Periyannan | INC INC | 2) Raja Chidambaram 4) Adimoolam | IND IND |
| Perambur | 1) Pakkiriswami Pillai 3) Satyavani Muthu | IND IND | 2) T. S. Govindaswamy 4) T. Rajagopal | INC INC |
| Perundurai | N. K. Palanisami | CPI | Manicka Mudaliar | INC |
| Pollachi | 1) N. Mahalingam 2) K. Ponniah | INC INC | 3) P. Thangavel Gounder 4) V. K. Rangaswamy | PSP CPI |
| Polur | S. M. Annamalai | IND | T. B. Kesava Reddiar | IND |
| Ponneri | 1) V. Govindasami Naidu 2) T. P. Elumalai | INC INC | 3) T. Shanmugam 4) Changam Pillai | IND IND |
| Radhapuram | A. V. Thomas | INC | Kartheesan | IND |
| Ramanathapuram | R. Shanmuga Rajeshwara Sethupathi | IND | G. Mangalasamy | CPI |
| Ranipet | Chandrasekara Naicker | INC | R. A. Subhaan | IND |
| Rasipuram | A. Raja Gounder | INC | K. V. K. Ramaswamy | IND |
| Saidapet | A. S. Doraiswami Reddiar | INC | N. P. Loganathan | IND |
| Salem I | A. Mariappan Mudaliar | INC | V. R. Nedunchezhiyan | IND |
| Salem II | A. Rathnavel Gounder | INC | S. M. Ramiah | CPI |
| Sankarankoil | 1) P. Urkavalan 2) A. R. Subbiah Mudaliar | INC INC | 3) Adinamilagi 4) S. Uthaman | IND PSP |
| Sankari | K. S. Subramanya Gounder | INC | R. Thandavan | IND |
| Sathankulam | S. P. Adithanar | IND | S. Kandasamy | INC |
| Satyamangalam | K. Gopal Gounder | IND | K. Aranganathan | INC |
| Sattur | K. Kamaraj Nadar | INC | Jayarama Reddiar | IND |
| Sendamangalam | T. Sivagnanam Pillai | INC | Somasundara Gounder | IND |
| Sholinghur | B. Bhakthavatsalu Naidu | INC | M. Subramanian Naicker | IND |
| Sirkazhi | 1) C. Muthia Pillai 2) K. B. S. Mani | INC INC | 3) K. Sami Durai Annangar 4) V. Velayutham | CPI CPI |
| Sivaganga | D. Subramania Rajkumar | IND | Saminathan | INC |
| Sivakasi | S. Ramasami Naidu | INC | P. Muthuramanuja Thevar | IND |
| Sriperumbudur | M. Bhaktavatsalam | INC | C. V. M. Annamalai | IND |
| Srirangam | K. Vasudevan | INC | Chitrambalam | IND |
| Srivaikuntam | A. P. C. Veerabahu | INC | Y. Perumal | IND |
| Srivilliputhur | 1) R. Krishnasami Naidu 2) A. Chinnasami | INC INC | 3) S. Alagarsamy 4) Gurusami | CPI IND |
| Sulur | Kulanthai Ammal | INC | K. Ramani | CPI |
| Taramangalam | N. S. Soundararajan | INC | Chinnappan | IND |
| Tenkasi | K. Sattanatha Karayalar | IND | I. A. Chidambaram Pillai | INC |
| Thanjavur | A. Y. S. Parisutha Nadar | INC | R. Gopalakrishnan | IND |
| Theni | 1) N. R. Thiagarajan 3) N. M. Velappan | INC INC | 2) S. S. Rajendran 4) A. Ayyanar | IND IND |
| Thirumangalam | A. V. P. Periavala Guruya Reddi | IND | K. Rajaram | INC |
| Thirumayam | V. Ramiah | INC | Muthuvairava Ambalagarar | IND |
| Thirupparankundram | S. Chinnakaruppa Thevar | INC | K. P. Janaki | CPI |
| Thousand lights | A. V. P. Asaithambi | IND | K. Venkatasamy Naidu | INC |
| Thuriniapuram | M. A. Manickavelu | INC | S. Murugan | IND |
| Tindivanam | 1) P. Veerappa Gounder 2) M. Jagannathan | IND IND | 3) Venugopal Gounder 4) Pichaikuppan | INC INC |
| Tiruchendur | M. S. Selvaraj | INC | M. R. Meganathan | IND |
| Tiruchengode | 1) T. M. Kaliannan 2) R. Kandasami | INC INC | 3) Rangasamy Gounder 4) Komaran | IND PSP |
| Tiruchirappalli - I | E. P. Mathuram | IND | T. Durairaj Pillai | INC |
| Tiruchirappalli - II | M. Kalyanasundaram | CPI | Subburethinam | INC |
| Tirukoilur | 1) S. A. M. Annamalai Odayar 3) Kuppusami | IND INC | 2) Lakshmi Narasamma 4) Muthusami | INC IND |
| Tirukoshtiyur | N. V. Chockalingam | INC | S. Shanmugam | CPI |
| Tiruppattur | R. C. Samanna Gounder | INC | Natesa Pillai | IND |
| Tiruvannamalai | 1) P. U. Shanmugham 2) C. Santhanam | IND IND | 3) V. K. Annamalai Gounder 4) A. Arumugam | INC |
| Tiruvayur | R. Swaminatha Merkondar | INC | D. Pakshiraja Moovarayar | IND |
| Tirunelveli | 1) Rajathi Kunchithapatham 2) Somasundaram | INC INC | 3) Kandish 4) Ponnusami | IND PSP |
| Tiruppur | K. N. Palanisamy | INC | V. Ponnulinga Gounder | CPI |
| Tiruthuraipundi | 1) V. Vedayyan 2) A. Vedaratnam | INC INC | 3) C. Kandasamy 4) S. Vadivelu | CPI CPI |
| Tiruvadanai | KR. RM. Kariamanickamambalam | IND | S. Ramakrishnathevar | INC |
| Tiruvallur | 1) Eakambara Mudaly 2) V. S. Arunachalam | INC INC | 3) N. Govindasamy Naidu 4) M. Dharmalingam | IND IND |
| T. Nagar | K. Vinayakam | INC | A. S. Jesupatham | IND |
| T Palur | Subbiah | INC | Ramasamy | IND |
| Triplicane | K. S. G. Haja Sheriff | INC | Appadurai | IND |
| Tuticorin | Ponnusami Nadar | INC | M. S. Sivamani | IND |
| Udagamandalam | B. K. Linga Gowder | INC | K. Bhojan | IND |
| Uddanapalli | Muni Reddi | IND | Venkatakrishna Desai | INC |
| Udumalpet | S. T. Subbaya Gounder | IND | N. Mounaguruswamy Naidu | INC |
| Ulundurpet | Kandasami Padayachi | INC | Manonmani Ammal | IND |
| Usilampatti | P. K. Mookiah Thevar | IND | P. V. Raj | INC |
| Uthamapalayam | K. Pandiaraj | INC | P. T. Rajan | IND |
| Uthiramerur | V. K. Ramaswamy Mudaliar | IND | K. Duraiswamy Nayagar | INC |
| Vadamadurai | Thiruvenkatasamy Naicker | IND | S. Chiinasamy Naidu | INC |
| Valavanur | A. Govindasami Nayagar | IND | K. M. Krishna Gounder | INC |
| Vandavasi | 1) M. Ramachandra Reddy 3) D. Dasarathan | INC INC | 2) A. Dharma Gounder 4) S. Muthulingam | IND IND |
| Vaniyambadi | A. A. Rasheed | INC | M. P. Vadivelu Gounder | IND |
| Vedasandur | T. S. Soundaram Ramachandran | INC | Madanagopal | CPI |
| Veerapandy | M. R. Kandasamy Mudaliar | INC | Chelliah | IND |
| Vellore | M. P. Sarathy | IND | Sundara Gounder | CPI |
| Vilavancode | M. William | INC | Uncontested | Uncontested |
| Villupuram | Sarangapani Gounder | INC | Shanmuga Udayar | IND |
| Vridhachalam | M. Selvaraj | IND | G. Rajavelu Padayachi | INC |
| Washermanpet | M. Mayandi Nadar | INC | N. Jeevarathnam | IND |
| Yercaud | 1) S. Andi Goundan 2) S. Lakshmana Goundar | INC INC | 3) Raja Paul David 4) Kuppusami Goundan | IND IND |