1980 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election

1980 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election

← 1977 28 May 1980 1984 →
All 234 seats in the Legislature of Tamil Nadu 118 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	65.42%
First party Second party   Leader M. G. Ramachandran M. Karunanidhi Party AIADMK DMK Alliance AIADMK Alliance Congress alliance Leader's seat Madurai West Anna Nagar Seats won 162 69 Seat change 14 6 Popular vote 9,328,839 8,371,718 Percentage 48.92% 44.43% Swing 18.56% 19.54%
1980 election map (by constituencies)
Chief Minister before election M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran AIADMK

The seventh legislative assembly election to Tamil Nadu was held on 28 May 1980. The election was held two years before the end of the term of M. G. Ramachandran administration, as it was dissolved for the failure of state machinery by the then President of India Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam allied with the Indian National Congress (Indira) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam with Janata Party. Despite their landslide victory of 37 out of 39 seats at the general election in January 1980, DMK and Indira Congress failed to win the legislative assembly election. AIADMK won the election and its leader and incumbent Chief Minister MGR was sworn in as Chief Minister for the second time.