The ninth legislative assembly election of Tamil Nadu was held on 21 January 1989.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) won the election and its leader M. Karunanidhi, became the Chief Minister.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) split into two factions, one led by Janaki and the other by J. Jayalalithaa.

Earlier in December 1986, 10 MLAs of the DMK had been expelled from the Assembly by Pandian for their participation in the anti-Hindi agitation of 1986, bringing down the strength of the house to 224.

[1][2][3] Though she won the vote of confidence, her government was dismissed by prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on 30 January citing the disruptions in the assembly.

However, the election commission refused to recognize either of them as the official AIADMK and temporarily froze the "two leaves" symbol on 17 December 1988.

[5][6][7][8][9] The Tamil Nadu unit of the Indian National Congress initially decided to ally with the Jayalalithaa faction.

The Tamil Nadu Congress (under G. K. Moopanar) was contesting elections alone after a gap of twelve years and Rajiv Gandhi campaigned extensively making multiple campaign visits to Tamil Nadu.

V. P. Singh and Jyoti Basu, the national leaders of Janata Dal and CPM respectively also campaigned for the DMK led front in Tamil Nadu.