1967 Election - a review - Hero of 1967 election.
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The election results were announced on 23 February 1967 and the DMK won an absolute majority on its own. It had increased its vote share to 40.6% from 27.1% in 1962 election. Annadurai resigned as the Member of Parliament from the Madras South Lok Sabha constituency, which was later won by Murasoli Maran in the following by-election. Annadurai was nominated as Chief Minister of Madras State and staked a claim to form a Government on 2 March 1967. He was sworn in by Governor Ujjal Singh on 6 March 1967 in Rajaji Hall. He was later elected to the Madras Legislative Council on 22 April 1967.
This election was noted for popular actor, DMK candidate and future Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) being shot in the throat by actor M.R. Radha. He survived the shooting, but the incident created a huge popularity wave for MGR. This eventually helped increase the popularity of not only MGR, but also the DMK in the election, and is attributed as one of the reasons for the victory of the DMK.
Both Congress and DMK used films and actors for campaigning. Gemini Studios produced a political film for the Congress – Vazhga Nam Thayagam starring Shivaji Ganesan and Nagesh. Sivaji and Padmini worked for the Congress party. Despite its efforts, Congress could not counter the DMK's propaganda, which had a long history of using films for political campaigns since its founding.
DMK's long term association with the Tamil Film industry was put to good use in the campaign. MGR's films were used to attack Congress policies and to popularise DMK's positions. Similar to the tactics employed in the elections of 1957 and 1962, film songs and dialogues from Kaanji Thalaivan (1963), Aayirathil Oruvan (1965), Enga Veettu Pillai (1965), Anbe Vaa (1966), Naan Aanaiyittal (1966), Vivasayee (1967) and Arasakattalai (1967) were used for political messaging. Lesser known film stars like Ravichandran and Jaishankar used their films for praising DMK and Annadurai.
The DMK put up posters of MGR recuperating in a hospital bed with a neck cast (from his gunshot wounds) all over Tamil Nadu to garner public sympathy and support.
Notable losses
The former chief minister and popular leader of the Indian National Congress, K. Kamaraj lost his seat in Virudunagar by 1285 votes to the student leader P. Seenivasan from the DMK. A few days before the election, Kamaraj had an accident and could not campaign. This led to his famous declaration that he would win lying down (Tamil: படுத்துக் கொண்டே ஜெயிப்பேன்). He lost the election along with the incumbent Chief Minister M. Bakthavatsalam, who lost his seat in Sriperumbudur to D. Rajarathinam from the DMK by 8926 votes. Except for G. Bhuvaraghan (the minister for Information and Publicity), all ministers of the outgoing Bakthavatsalam cabinet were defeated in this election.
In this election, out of 234 candidates, MGR was the highest vote winner i.e. 27,674 against INC candidate T.L. Ragupathy
உலகத்தமிழரின் ஒப்பற்ற தெய்வம் எம்ஜிஆர்
Courtesy: Net.