Pattali Makkal Katchi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pattali Makkal Katchi
Leader	Dr. S. Ramadoss
President	Dr. S. Ramadoss, R. Anbumani (Executive President)
Founder	Dr. S. Ramadoss
Founded	16 July 1989 (36 years ago) (1989-07-16)
Headquarters	Thailapuram Garden, Kiliyanur Post,Vanur Taluk, Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu
Ideology	Social Justice Social democracy Social reformation Right-wing populism
Political position	Centre to Centre-left
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–present) Former Alliances UPA (2004–2009), (2011-2014) (National) DPA (2006-2009), (2011-2014) (Tamil Nadu) PMK-Led Alliance (1989-1996) (Tamil Nadu)
Seats in Lok Sabha	0 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha	0 / 245
Seats in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly	5 / 234
Election symbol
(Ripe Mango)
Party flag
Elections

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (which means Workers' People's Party), often called PMK, is a political party in Tamil Nadu, India. It was started by Dr. S. Ramadoss in 1989. The party's main goal was to give a political voice to the Vanniyar community, a group of people living in Northern Tamil Nadu. Today, PMK is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by the BJP party. The symbol of the PMK party is a mango.

How the Party Started

The Vanniyar Sangam

Dr. S. Ramadoss first created the Vanniyar Sangam in 1980. This group brought together different organizations from the Vanniyar community. The Vanniyar Sangam is like the main group that PMK grew out of.

In 1987, the Vanniyar Sangam organized protests. They asked for the Vanniyar community to be recognized as a "Most Backward Caste" (MBC). This status would help them get special benefits in education and jobs. After these protests, in 1989, the government of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by M. Karunanidhi agreed to give MBC status to the Vanniyars. This meant they would get reservations in schools and jobs.

PMK: From 1989 to Today

After the 1987 protests, Dr. Ramadoss officially started the PMK party on July 16, 1989.

Before the 2004 elections, PMK joined a large group of parties in Tamil Nadu called the Democratic Progressive Alliance. This group included parties like DMK and Indian National Congress (INC). PMK won enough seats to have a role in both the state government in Tamil Nadu and the central government in India. Their support helped the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) form the government.

After the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, PMK became part of the UPA, which was led by the INC. Later, in 2008, the DMK party in Tamil Nadu ended its partnership with PMK. However, PMK remained a supporter of the UPA government at the center. In March 2009, PMK decided to join the AIADMK group and left the UPA.

In 2013, after some disagreements, Dr. Ramadoss and his son, Anbumani, were arrested. They were released after 12 days.

PMK joined forces with the BJP-led NDA for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. In this election, R. Anbumani won a seat in the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha area. He was one of only two non-AIADMK members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu at that time.

PMK continued its alliance with AIADMK and BJP in the 2019 Indian general election in Tamil Nadu. They ran for 7 seats but did not win any.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, PMK ran 10 candidates. One candidate, A. Mani, won the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha area. This brought the seat back to PMK after five years of DMK control.

In November 2020, Dr. Ramadoss called for protests. He asked for 20% of the MBC category in education and jobs to be set aside for Vanniyars. A law was passed on February 26, 2021, by the AIADMK government to create a 10.5% reservation for Vanniyars. This was done before the April 6 assembly elections. In July 2021, the DMK government issued an order to put this 10.5% quota into action.

PMK ran for 23 seats as part of the AIADMK alliance in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. They won five seats. In the assembly, PMK voted for resolutions against certain laws, even though their allies AIADMK and BJP did not. PMK later left the AIADMK-led alliance for the 2021 local elections.

What PMK Believes In

The PMK party is different from many other parties in Tamil Nadu. It openly asks for support based on people's community (caste) identity. The party focuses on ideas like Social Justice and making society better.

Important People in PMK

Here are some of the main leaders of the Pattali Makkal Katchi party:

Party Presidents Over Time

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Time in Office
			Started	Ended	Total Time
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		R. Anbumani (1968–)	28 May 2022	28 May 2025	3 years, 0 days
4		Dr. S. Ramadoss (1939-)	29 May 2025	Currently in office

PMK Members in the Government

Union Ministers

PMK members have served as ministers in the central government of India. Here are some of them:

No.	Portrait		Minister (Born-Died) Constituency	Time in Office			Job	Government	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
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		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			R. Anbumani (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				MoS in Ministry of Railways

Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha)

PMK has had members in the Lok Sabha, which is one of the two houses of the Indian Parliament.

Members of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

PMK has also had members in the Rajya Sabha, the other house of the Indian Parliament.

No.	Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Position	Time in Office			Constituency (House)
				Started	Ended	Total Time
1		R. Anbumani (1968–)	Member of Rajya Sabha	2004	2010	6 years	Tamil Nadu (Rajya Sabha)
				2019	Currently in office	6 years, 20 days

Election Results

PMK has participated in many elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

Election Year	Election	Votes polled	Won	Change of Seats	Alliance	Result
1991	10th Assembly	1,452,982	1 / 194	1	None	Lost
1996	11th Assembly	1,042,333	4 / 116	3	PMK+	Lost
2001	12th Assembly	1,557,500	20 / 27	16	AIADMK+	Won
2006	13th Assembly	1,863,749	18 / 31	2	DMK +	Won
2011	14th Assembly	1,927,783	3 / 30	15	DMK +	Lost
2016	15th Assembly	2,300,775	0 / 234	3	None	Lost
2021	16th Assembly	1,756,796	5 / 23	5	AIADMK+	Lost

Lok Sabha Elections (Tamil Nadu)

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}

Puducherry Assembly Elections

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

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

See also

• List of political parties in India