Politics[edit]Political Alliance Assembly (2011) Lok Sabha (2009) AIADMK+ 203 12 DMK+ 31 27 Independent/Other 0 0 Source: Election Commission of India.[63][64] Main articles: Elections in Tamil Nadu, Politics of Tamil Nadu, and Dravidian pa rties Pre-Independence[edit]Prior to Indian independence Tamil Nadu was under British colonial rule as part of the Madras Presidency. The main party in Tamil Nadu at that time was the Indian National Congress (INC). Regional parties have dominate d state politics since 1916. One of the earliest regional parties, the South Ind ian Welfare Association, a forerunner to Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, was st arted in 1916. The party was called after its English organ, Justice Party, by i t opponents. Later, South Indian Liberal Federation was adopted as its official name. The reason for victory of the Justice Party in elections was the non-parti cipation of the INC, demanding complete independence of India. The Justice Party which was under E.V.Ramaswamy was renamed Dravidar Kazhagam (D K for short) in 1944. DK was a non-political party which demanded the establishm ent of an independent state called Dravida Nadu. However, due to the differences between its two leaders EVR and C.N. Annadurai, the party was split. Annadurai left the party to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK decided to e nter politics in 1956. In the 19th century, western scholars discovered that the Dravidian languages dominating southern India formed a different linguistic gro up than the Indo-Aryan languages predominant in northern India. They also classi fied Indians into distinct Aryan and Dravidian races. It was proposed that the gg enerally darker-skinned Dravidians constituted a distinct race. This concept has affected thinking in India about racial and regional differences and had an imp act on aspects of Tamil nationalism, which has appropriated the claim that Dravi dians are the earliest inhabitants of India, and the Aryan population were oppre ssive interlopers from whom Dravidians should liberate themselves..