Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK) is a caste based political party representing the Kongu Vellala Gounders, a

backward caste The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. The party's vote base is mainly concentrated in the

Kongu Nadu Kongu Nadu, also known by various names as Kongu Mandalam and Kongu belt, is a geographical region comprising present day parts of western Tamil Nadu, southeastern Karnataka and eastern Kerala. In the ancient Tamilakam, it was the seat of th ...

region of Tamil Nadu.

Origins and platform

The party 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, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

by the Kongu Vellala Goundergal Peravai, a

Gounder Gounder is a title used by various communities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It may refer to communities such as the , Kongu Vellalars , Kurumbas, Tuluva Vellalars, Uralis, Vanniyars, Vettuvars and Vokkaligas. Etymology There are number o ...

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

organisation. Although the party was launched by a Gounder organisation, the party's founder Best Ramasamy dismissed that the party was only for the cause of Kongu Velala Gounders and said that his party will work for the cause of the western Tamil Nadu. The party also claims that it will work for development of the

Kongu Kongu may refer to: * Kongu Nadu, a region of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and its inhabitants * Kongu Tamil, a dialect of Tamil language spoken in Western Tamil Nadu *Kongu vellala Gounder, a Dominant Landowning community in Western 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 the 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. The party mainly contributed for the defeat of all

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

(DMK) alliance candidates in the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu. The party came third in many constituencies ahead of

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (; DMDK) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Vijayakant (Captain ...

2011 Assembly election

In the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, KMK joined hands with DMK and contested 7 seats. It lost in all the 7 seats and in local body elections, the party allied with the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP).BJP ties up with KMK for forthcoming polls
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Election history

References

External links