Tamil Nadu, 2024. 944 candidates from 68 parties contested 39 seats; 7 parties won at least one.
Parties contesting
68
2024 · 7 of them won a seat
Largest party
22seats
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam · 27.21% of votes
Deposits lost
90.78%
857 of 944 candidates
Effective parties
6.5
By vote share · lower means more dominant
Candidates per seat
24.2
944 for 39 declared seats
[02]Vote share against seat share
2024 · bar is vote share, marker is seat share
First-past-the-post rarely pays out in proportion. The bar is the share of votes a
party won; the marker is the share of seats it took. A marker to the right of its
bar means the system paid the party more seats than its votes alone would buy.
Dravida Munnetra Kazh…
27.21%22 seats · +29.2 pts
Indian National Congr…
10.79%9 seats · +12.29 pts
Communist Party of In…
2.55%2 seats · +2.58 pts
Viduthalai Chiruthaig…
2.27%2 seats · +2.86 pts
Communist Party of In…
2.17%2 seats · +2.96 pts
Marumalarchi Dravida…
1.26%1 seat · +1.31 pts
Indian Union Muslim L…
1.18%1 seat · +1.38 pts
All India Anna Dravid…
20.66%0 seats · -20.66 pts
Bharatiya Janta Party
11.39%0 seats · -11.39 pts
Naam Tamilar Katchi
8.24%0 seats · -8.24 pts
Pattali Makkal Katchi
4.35%0 seats · -4.35 pts
Independent
2.66%0 seats · -2.66 pts
Desiya Murpokku Dravi…
2.61%0 seats · -2.61 pts
Tamil Maanila Congres…
0.95%0 seats · -0.95 pts
[03]Strike rate — candidates who won
2024 · parties fielding 5 or more
Dravida Munnetra Kazh…
100.0%22/22
Indian National Congr…
100.0%9/9
All India Anna Dravid…
0.0%0/34
Bharatiya Janta Party
0.0%0/23
Naam Tamilar Katchi
0.0%0/39
Pattali Makkal Katchi
0.0%0/10
Independent
0.0%0/604
Desiya Murpokku Dravi…
0.0%0/5
Bahujan Samaj Party
0.0%0/39
Bharatiya Praja Aikya…
0.0%0/5
[04]Deposits lost
Candidates under a sixth of the valid vote · newest first
2024
90.78%857 of 944
2019
91.06%774 of 850
2014
88.52%748 of 845
2009
90.52%745 of 823
2004
86.34%493 of 571
1999
76.52%277 of 362
1998
72.97%216 of 296
1996
88.79%665 of 749
1991
82.43%380 of 461
1989
83.2%421 of 506
[05]How crowded the ballot got
Candidates per seat · newest first
2024
24.2944 candidates
2019
21.8850 candidates
2014
21.7845 candidates
2009
21.1823 candidates
2004
14.6571 candidates
1999
9.3362 candidates
1998
7.6296 candidates
1996
19.2749 candidates
1991
11.8461 candidates
1989
13.0506 candidates
[06]Independents
Candidates standing without a party · newest first
2024
6040 won
2019
5610 won
2014
5170 won
2009
5280 won
2004
3910 won
1999
1980 won
1998
1271 won
1996
5390 won
1991
2750 won
1989
3350 won
[07]Computed insights
Arithmetic over the table above, not commentary
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam took 56.41% of the seats on 27.21% of the votes — a seat bonus of +29.2 pts.
seat share 56.41 - vote share 27.21
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam went the other way: 20.66% of votes returned only 0.0% of seats.
seat share 0.0 - vote share 20.66
90.78% of candidates lost their deposit in 2024 — 857 of 944 polled under a sixth of the valid vote.
857/944 below the one-sixth threshold
604 independents stood and 0 won — a strike rate of 0.0%.
0/604 independents
The field has grown more fragmented since 1962: the effective number of parties moved from 3.7 to 6.5.