Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK) is a political party in the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. The party's vote base is mainly concentrated in the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu.

Origins and platform

The party was launched in the name of "Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai" but later its leaders adopted the already registered name of "Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam". It was launched in 2009 at Coimbatore

Coimbatore

Coimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....

 by the Kongu Vellala Goundergal Peravai, a Gounder caste

Caste system in India

The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....

 organisation. Although the party was launched by a Gounder Organisation, it has repositioned itself as the representative of all people in the entire Kongu

Kongu

Kongu may refer to:* Kongu , a region in Tamil Nadu* Kongu Engineering College, an engineering college in Tamil Nadu* Toa Kongu, a fictional hero from the BIONICLE series.* Kongu Arts and Science College, an Arts college in Tamil Nadu...

 region . The party charged that Kongu

Kongu Nadu

Kongu Nadu is a region comprising the western part of the Tamil Nadu India. The region is bounded on the west and north-west by the Karnataka state, on the west by the Kerala state, on the east by Tondai Nadu, on the south-east by Chola Nadu and on the south by Madurai regions of...

 region continued to be one of the most neglected region in Tamil Nadu, although the region contributed for 40% of revenue to the state government. The party also claims that it was formed for the welfare and development of the Kongu

Kongu

Kongu may refer to:* Kongu , a region in Tamil Nadu* Kongu Engineering College, an engineering college in Tamil Nadu* Toa Kongu, a fictional hero from the BIONICLE series.* Kongu Arts and Science College, an Arts college in Tamil Nadu...

 region.

2009 Lok Sabha Election

The party contested in 12 constituencies independently (without alliance) in 2009 lokshaba elections and polled around 6 lakhs (600,000) votes in kongu region. Although the party was not able to win any seat still it was considered as a good show by political observers as the party was started only 4 months before the elections.It is believed that the party will be stopped after 2011. The party mainly contributed for the defeat of all Congress

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 - DMK alliance candidates in the Kongu region of Tamilnadu. The party came third in many constituencies ahead of DMDK

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam is a regional political party formed by Tamil film actor Vijayakanth in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu along the lines of the regional Dravidian political parties. He formally announced party formation on September 14, 2005 at Madurai...

 (Vijayakanth's party).

2011 Legislative Assembly elections

In the 2011, state assembly elections KMK was part of the DMK front. It contested in 7 assembly constituencies situated in the Kongu

Kongu

Kongu may refer to:* Kongu , a region in Tamil Nadu* Kongu Engineering College, an engineering college in Tamil Nadu* Toa Kongu, a fictional hero from the BIONICLE series.* Kongu Arts and Science College, an Arts college in Tamil Nadu...

 belt and lost in all of them. E. R. Eswaran, the general secretary of the party lost his seat from Sulur constituency

Sulur (State Assembly Constituency)

Sulur is a legislative assembly constituency in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It comprises the panchayat town of Sulur and its surrounding areas in Coimbatore. It was formed in 2009 and is part of the Coimbatore parliamentary constituency.-Members:...

 with a margin of about 30,000 votes.

2011 Local body elections

In the 2011 local body elections

Local body elections in Tamil Nadu

Elections to Local Bodies in Tamil Nadu are conducted once in five years to elect the representatives to the Urban and Rural local bodies. These elections are conducted by Tamil Nadu State Election Commission-Local Bodies in Tamil Nadu:...

 the party was allied with the BJP.

Election history

Year	General Election	Votes Polled	Seats Contested	Seats Won	Alliance with
2009	15th Lok Sabha	5,79,704	12	0	--
2011	Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election, 2011 Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election, 2011 The fourteenth legislative assembly election was held on 13 April 2011 to elect members from 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Results were released on 13 May 2011...	3,70,044	7	0	DMK front