Pattali Makkal Katchi

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (transl. Proletarian People's Party; abbreviated as PMK) is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded by Dr. S. Ramadoss in 1989 to provide political representation for the Vanniyar caste, a community found throughout northern Tamil Nadu. It is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).Its symbol is a mango. As of 2025, it is currently led by Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss following a months long dispute that resulted in his father, Dr. S. Ramadoss, forming a splinter faction of the PMK.

Pattali Makkal Katchi

President	Anbumani Ramadoss
General Secretary	Vadivel Ravanan
Treasurer	M. Thilagambama
Founder	S. Ramadoss
Founded	16 July 1989 (36 years ago) (1989-07-16)
Headquarters	Tindivanam, Villupuram District, Chennai - 604001, Tamil Nadu
Ideology	Casteism Conservatism Right-wing populism
Political position	Right-wing
ECI Status	Unrecognised Party
Alliance	Regional Alliances AIADMK+ (1998-1999; 2001-2002; 2009–2011; 2019-2024;) (Tamil Nadu) National Alliance NDA (1998-2001; 2002-2003; 2014–2016; 2019-2024) Former Alliances UPA (2004–2009), (2011-2014) (National) DPA (2006-2009), (2011-2014) (Tamil Nadu) PMK-Led Alliance (1989-1996) (Tamil Nadu)
Seats in Rajya Sabha	0 / 245
Seats in Lok Sabha	0 / 543
Seats in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly	3 / 234
Election symbol
Ripe Mango
Party flag

Website
pmkofficial.com
Politics of India Political parties Elections

History

Vanniyar Sangam

S. Ramadoss founded the Vanniyar Sangam in 1980, bringing together a coalition of Vanniyar caste organisations. The Vanniyar Sangam is PMK's parent organisation that organised the 1987 Vanniyar reservation agitation, demanding Most Backward Caste (MBC) status for Vanniyars. At the peak of the protests, the state was paralysed for a week when thousands of trees were cut down, highways were blocked and damaged, and more than 1,400 houses belonging to members of the Dalit community were torched. The police shot 21 protestors. Later, in 1989, the DMK government led by then-Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi granted MBC status to the Vanniyars, with the associated reservation entitlements in education and employment.

PMK (1989–present)

Ramadoss founded the PMK on 16 July 1989, emerging from the Vanniyar reservation protests of 1987.

Ahead of the 2004 elections, PMK joined the Democratic Progressive Alliance, a broad Tamil political coalition which also included the DMK, Indian National Congress (INC), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian Union Muslim League. The party was able to obtain a significant share of power both in the regional government in Tamil Nadu and the Central Government due to the number of seats it won which helped the United Progressive Alliance (UPA-I) form the Government.^{[citation needed]}

Following the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the PMK joined the United Progressive Alliance led by the INC. In June 2008, during the final months of the bitter relationship between the DMK and the PMK, the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu severed its ties with the PMK, who were outside supporters of the Karunanidhi Government. However, the DMK did not press for the party's removal from the UPA Government at the centre. On 26 March 2009, PMK declared that, it would join the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led front and left the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Ramadoss and his son, Anbumani Ramdoss, were arrested by the Jayalalithaa government for their inflammatory speeches, the PMK cadres indulged in violence in April 2013 causing property damages estimated worth ₹600 crores. Jayalalithaa likened the party to a “terrorist” organization and claimed they hurled petrol bombs on moving vehicles and caused damages to 850 vehicles including public buses and threatened to ban the party. Ramadoss and his son were released after 12 days in prison.

PMK contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha election in an alliance with BJP-led NDA and its candidate Anbumani Ramadoss won the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha constituency, he was one of two non-AIADMK MPs from Tamil Nadu the other being from its ally BJP.

PMK continued its alliance with AIADMK and BJP in the 2019 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu and contested 7 seats but the party failed to win any seats.

PMK again contested seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, fielding 10 candidates across 10 separate constituencies. But the party failed to win any seats.

The Madras Institute of Developmental Studies (MIDS) and an reported that the PMK and the Hindu Munnani was involved in the 2019 Ponparappi violence where Dalit women were sexually abused and Dalit houses were attacked and damaged. An NGO Evidence also blamed PMK in the violence because the Dalit colony voted overwhelmingly for VCK.

In November 2020, Ramadoss called for a protest demanding 20% internal reservation for Vanniyars in the MBC category in education and jobs from 1 December. During the pro-reservation protests, more than 500 PMK cadres pelted stones on a moving train and blocked traffic when they were blocked from entering Chennai. A bill to create the 10.5% internal reservation to Vanniyars was passed on February 26, 2021, by the AIADMK government. The move was taken ahead of the April 6 assembly elections to appease the PMK, which had threatened to quit the coalition if their demand was not satisfied. In July 2021, the DMK government issued an order to implement 10.5% quota Bill for Vanniyars.

PMK contested in 23 seats in the AIADMK alliance in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election and won five seats by securing 4.04%. In the assembly, PMK voted in favour of anti-CAA and anti-farm-law resolutions, but AIADMK and BJP walked out over the matter. PMK left the AIADMK-led alliance for the 2021 local body polls.

Ideology and political positions

The PMK defied Tamil Nadu's Dravidian political culture by explicitly appealing to its caste identification when asking for support. The party has been linked to direct action and protests that have resulted in violence. Between 2012 and 2013, the party ran a campaign against intercaste marriages.

Current office bearers and prominent members

The leaders of Pattali Makkal Katchi, who are also the national executives of the party, are listed below:

National Executive
S.No	Member	Party Position
1.	S. Ramadoss	Founder of PMK
2.	Anbumani Ramadoss	President of PMK
3.	Vadivel Ravanan	General Secretary of PMK
4.	M. Thilagabama	Treasurer of PMK
5.	S. P. Venkateshwaran	MLA, Dharmapuri
6.	S. Sadhasivam	MLA, Mettur
5.	C. Sivakumar	MLA, Mailam

List of party leaders

Party Presidents

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term in office
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Assumed office	Left office	Time in office
1		Dheeran (unknown)	16 July 1989	31 December 1997	8 years, 168 days
2		G.K. Mani (1952–)	31 December 1997	28 May 2022	24 years, 148 days
3		Anbumani Ramadoss (1968–)	28 May 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 201 days

Party Honanary Presidents

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term in office
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Assumed office	Left office	Time in office
1		G.K. Mani (1952–)	28 May 2022	Incumbent	3 years, 201 days

List of Union Ministers

No.	Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Portfolio	Ministry	Prime Minister
No.	Portrait	Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	From	To	Period	Portfolio	Ministry	Prime Minister
1		Dalit Ezhilmalai (1945–2020) MP for Chidambaram [MoS(I/C)]	20 March 1998	14 August 1999	1 year, 147 days	Minister of Health and Family Welfare	Vajpayee II	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
2		N. T. Shanmugam MP for Vellore [MoS(I/C)]	13 October 1999	27 May 2000	227 days	Minister of Health and Family Welfare	Vajpayee III
			27 May 2000	7 February 2001	256 days	Ministry of Coal
			1 July 2002	15 January 2004	1 year, 198 days	Ministry of Food Processing Industries
3		A. K. Moorthy (born 1964) MP for Chengalpattu	1 July 2002	15 January 2004	1 year, 198 days	MoS in Ministry of Railways
4		E. Ponnuswamy (born 1936) MP for Chidambaram	13 October 1999	7 February 2001	1 year, 117 days	MoS in Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
5		Anbumani Ramadoss (born 1968) Rajya Sabha MP for Tamil Nadu	23 May 2004	29 March 2009	4 years, 310 days	Ministry of Health & Family Welfare	Manmohan I	Manmohan Singh
6		R. Velu (born 1940) MP for Arakkonam	23 May 2004	29 March 2009	4 years, 310 days	MoS in Ministry of Railways	Manmohan I	Manmohan Singh

Election history

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

Election Year	Assembly	Seats contested	Seats won	Overall votes	(%) of votes	(+/-) in seats	Vote swing	Outcome
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
1991	14th	194	1 / 234	14,52,982	5.89%	1	new	Others
1996	15th	116	4 / 234	14,52,982	3.84%	3	2.05	Others
2001	16th	27	20 / 234	15,57,500	5.56%	16	1.72	Government
2006	17th	31	18 / 234	18,63,749	5.65%	2	0.09	Government
2011	18th	30	3 / 234	19,27,783	5.23%	15	0.42	Opposition
2016	19th	232	0 / 234	23,00,558	5.32%	3	0.06	Others
2021	20th	23	5 / 234	17,58,774	3.80%	5	1.52	Opposition

Lok Sabha election
Election Year	Election	Votes polled	Won	Change of Seats	Alliance	Result
1996	11th Lok Sabha	552,118	0 / 15	No Change	PMK+	Lost
1998	12th Lok Sabha	15,48,976	4 / 5	4	NDA	Government
1999	13th Lok Sabha	2,236,821	5 / 7	1	NDA	Government
2004	14th Lok Sabha	1,927,367	5 / 5	No Change	DPA	Government
2009	15th Lok Sabha	1,944,619	0 / 6	5	TF	Lost
2014	16th Lok Sabha	1,804,812	1 / 8	1	NDA	Government
2019	17th Lok Sabha	2,297,431	0 / 7	1	NDA	Government
2024	18th Lok Sabha	18,79,689	0 / 10	No Change	NDA	Government

^{DPA - Democratic Progressive Alliance NDA - National Democratic Alliance} ^{TF - Third Front PT - PMK-Tiwari Congress Front}

All time–PMK Lok Sabha seat count

All time–PMK Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly seat count

Puducherry

Puducherry Legislative Assembly election
Election Year	Election	Votes polled	Won	Change of Seats	Alliance	Result
2006	2006 Pondicherry Legislative Assembly election	N.A.	2 / 30	2	DPA	Government

Lok Sabha election
Election Year	Election	Votes polled	Won	Change of Seats	Alliance	Result	Candidate
1999	13th Lok Sabha	140,920	0 / 1	No Change	NDA	Lost	M. Ramadass
2004	14th Lok Sabha	241,653	1 / 1	1	DPA	Government	M. Ramadass
2009	15th Lok Sabha	208,619	0 / 1	1	TF	Lost	M. Ramadass