Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu consists of the heads of government of the state of Tamil Nadu in India since 1920. The area under the present day state of Tamil Nadu has been part of different territorial configurations under Madras Presidency and Madras State in its history. Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu on 14th January 1969. Since then, Tamil Nadu had 8 Chief Ministers. The present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Chief Ministers of Madras Presidency
The following are the Chief Ministers of Madras Presidency and Madras state:
O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar
O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar was the Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency from 23rd March 1947 to 6th April 1949. He belonged to the Indian National Congress party.
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja was the Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency and the Madras state after Independence from 6th April 1949 to 10th April 1952. He was in the position for two consecutive years and belonged to Indian National Congress.
C. Rajagopalachari
C. Rajagopalachari was the Chief Minister of the Madras state from 10th April 1952 to 13th April 1954. He belonged to the Indian National Congress party.
K. Kamaraj
K. Kamaraj was the Chief Minister of the Madras state from13th April 1954 to 31st March 1957, 13th April 1957 to 1st March 1962 and from 15th March 1962 to 2nd October 1963. He belonged to the Indian National Congress party. He was the longest serving Chief Minister of the Madras state.
M. Bakthavatsalam
M. Bakthavatsalam was the Chief Minister of the Madras state from 2nd October 1963 to 6th March 1967. He was the last Chief Minister of the Madras state who belonged to the Indian National Congress party.
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
The following are the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu state after its renaming:
C. N. Annadurai
C. N. Annadurai was the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who served for 20 days in 1969. He was the last Chief Minister of Madras from 1967 until 1969 when the name of the state of Madras was changed to Tamil Nadu.
V.R. Nedunchezhiyan
V.R. Nedunchezhiyan was the second Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in two tenures; from 3rd February 1969 to 10th February 1969 and from 24th December 1987 to 7th January 1988. In 1949, he and C. N. Annadurai formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi served as the third Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms from 10th February 1969 to 31st January 1976, 27th January 1989 to 30th January 1991, 13th May 1996 to 13th May 2001, and from 13th May 2006 to 15th May 2011. He was a long-standing leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party.
President"s Rule in Tamil Nadu
The first ever President"s Rule in Tamil Nadu was from January 1976 to June 1977. The next President"s Rule in Tamil Nadu was from February 1980 to June 1980, January 1988 to January 1989 and lastly from January 1991 to June 1991.
M. G. Ramachandran
M. G. Ramachandran served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 10 years between 1977 and 1987. He was the first film actor to become a Chief Minister in India. He remained as Chief Minister till his death in 1987. He belonged to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.
Janaki Ramachandran
Janaki Ramachandran was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 24 days from 7th January 1988, when her cabinet and the state assembly were collectively dissolved by the Government of India due to failures relating to law and order. She was the second wife of the actor and politician M. G. Ramachandran.
J. Jayalalitha
J. Jayalalitha served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over 14 years. She was elected as Chief Minister for five terms from 24th June 1991 to 12th May 1996, 14th May 2001 to 21st September 2001, 2nd March 2002 to 12th May 2006, 16th May 2011 to 27th September 2014 and from 23rd May 2015 to 4th December 2016. She was the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party. She remained as Chief Minister till his death in 2016.
O. Panneerselvam
O. Panneerselvam is the current Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Co-ordinator of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) since 21st August 2017. He served as the seventh Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 21st September 2001 to 1st March 2002, 29th September 2014 to 22nd May 2015 and from 6th December 2016 to 16th February 2017.
Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Edappadi K. Palaniswami is the current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 16th February 2017. He belonged to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.
