But due to criminal and corruption charges from her first term, on 21 September 2001, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled in a unanimous verdict that "a person who is convicted for a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such".

Thereby, the bench decided that "in the appointment of Dr. J. Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister there has been a clear infringement of a Constitutional provision and that a writ of quo warranto must issue".

The incumbent party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, finished its full 5 terms, for the first time since winning the 1971 state assembly election.

According to various sources and exit polls, the incumbent party was supposed to retain power, due to the popularity of its leader M. Karunanidhi.

Due to the anti-incumbency factor, problems of development cited by the people in many rural areas of Tamil Nadu, and a broad coalition formed by AIADMK, including Tamil Maanila Congress, who left the alliance of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), because they joined BJP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Indian National Congress and the left parties, the AIADMK led front, with its general secretary J. Jayalalithaa, won by a landslide, sweeping across the state.