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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1979 Nagapattinam (SC) Lok Sabha seat by-election
| country = India
| flag_year =
| type = By-election
| ongoing =
| party_colour =
| previous_election = 1977 Indian general election
| previous_year = 1977
| next_election = 1980 Indian general election
| next_year = 1980
| election_date = 17 June 1979
| seats_for_election =
| turnout =
| image1 =
| colour1 =
| candidate1 = [[K. Murugaiyan]]
| leader1 =
| leader_since1 =
| party1 = Communist Party of India
| alliance1 =
| home_state1 =
| leaders_seat1 =
| running_mate1 =
| last_election1 =
| seats_before1 =
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| electoral_vote1 =
| states_carried1 =
| seats1 =
| seats_after1 =
| seat_change1 =
| popular_vote1 =
| percentage1 =
| swing1 =
| image2 =
| colour2 =
| candidate2 = M. Mahalingam
| leader2 =
| leader_since2 =
| party2 = All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
| alliance2 =
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}}
On 17 June 1979 a by-election was held in for the [[Nagapattinam (Lok Sabha constituency)|Nagapattinam seat]] in the [[Lok Sabha]] (lower house of the [[parliament of India]]).<ref name=a>{{cite book|title=Indian and Foreign Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DFnAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India|page=125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Indian Journal of Political Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxgtAAAAIAAJ|year=1985|page=77}}</ref><ref name="Gough1989">{{cite book|author=Kathleen Gough|title=Rural change in southeast India: 1950s to 1980s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_yhFAAAAYAAJ|date=June 1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=470}}</ref> The by-election was called after the murder of the incumbent [[Communist Party of India]] parliamentarian [[S.G. Murugaiyan]], one of three prominent communist leaders killed in the state of [[Tamil Nadu]] in 1979.<ref name="Gough1989"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Asian Almanac|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKVtAAAAMAAJ|year=1979|publisher=V.T. Sambandan.|page=9727}}</ref> The Nagapattinam constituency was reserved for [[Scheduled Castes]].<ref name="Council1980">{{cite book|author=Communist Party of India. National Council|title=Review of 1980 mid-term Lok Sabha elections and resolutions adopted by the National Council of the Communist Party of India, New Delhi, 30 January to 3 February 1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0R8mAAAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Communist Party of India|page=55}}</ref>

By 1979 CPI had moved away from the [[Indian National Congress (I)]].<ref name="Gough1989"/> The CPI candidate [[K. Murugaiyan]] had the support from the [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] and the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]].<ref name="Gough1989"/> The CPI candidate, himself a bonded labourer, had overwhelming support from the [[Dalit]] communities in the constituency.<ref name="Gough1989"/><ref name="Subramanian1999">{{cite book|author=Narendra Subramanian|title=Ethnicity and Populist Mobilization: Political Parties, Citizens, and Democracy in South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iyuBAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-564316-9|page=172}}</ref>

The [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] candidate M. Mahalingam had the support from the Congress(I).<ref name="Gough1989"/> The Nagapattinam by-election was held simultaneously as a by-election in the [[Thanjavur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency]].<ref name="Mohandas1992">{{cite book|author=K. Mohandas|title=MGR, the man and the myth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NbG1AAAAIAAJ|year=1992|publisher=Panther Publishers|isbn=978-81-85457-09-3|page=42}}</ref> AIADMK supported the Congress(I) candidate in Thanjavur, and AIADMK supremo [[M.G. Ramachandran]] toured both constituencies during the election campaign.<ref name="Mohandas1992"/> Nevertheless the Congress(I) leader [[Indira Gandhi]] only campaigned in Thanjavur.<ref name="Mohandas1992"/>

==Result==
{| class="wikitable"
!Candidate
!Party
!Votes
!%
|-
| K. Murugaiyan
| [[Communist Party of India]]
| 288,000
| 51.12
|-
| M. Mahalingam
| [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]]
| 272,059
| 48.29
|-
| A.P. Salvam
| [[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
|2,200
|0.39
|-
|V.M. Emmanuel Ramaraj
| [[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
| 1,141
|0.20
|}
Sources:<ref name=a/><ref name="e">Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/ByeElection/Bye-ele-results%2052-95.xls Bye-election results 1952–95]''</ref>

==Aftermath==
The CPI hailed the by-election as a victory for left and democratic forces.<ref name=epw>{{cite book|title=Economic and Political Weekly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c90nAAAAMAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Sameeksha Trust|page=1076}}</ref> However, the CPI(M) state chief took a more cautious tone, stating that the by-election outcome "show that autocratic forces are still strong in Tamil Nadu".<ref name=epw/> The head of the [[Pradesh Congress Committee|Pradesh Congress Committee (I)]] bitterly accused M.G. Ramachandran of not having supported the party candidate in Nagapattinam sufficiently.<ref name=epw/>

K. Murugayian lost the Nagapattinam seat in the subsequent [[1980 Indian general election|1980 Lok Sabha election]] to the DMK candidate Thanzai M. Karunanidhi.<ref name="Council1980"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Lok Sabha by-elections, 1979 elections in India, By-elections in Tamil Nadu, 1970s in Tamil Nadu
|description=
}}

[[Category:Lok Sabha by-elections]]
[[Category:1979 elections in India]]
[[Category:By-elections in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:1970s in Tamil Nadu]]

1979 Nagapattinam by-election - Revision history

MetaBOT at 14:59, 8 July 2023