Birth of Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani

M. G. Ramachandran had been heading the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) as its founding leader after his feud with M. Karunanidhi in 1972. He had been the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu since 1977 until his death in 1987. Soon after his death the party broke into two, one headed by his wife V. N. Janaki Ramachandran and other by another Tamil movie star J. Jayalalithaa.Election Commission of India refused to accept either of them as the original AIADMK. Tamil Nadu Congress decided to ally with Jayalalitha's fragment of AIADMK. This move was opposed by Sivaji Ganesan and hence he left the party along with his supporters to form the new party Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani on 10 February 1988. To popularise the party Ganesan produce a movie titled En Thamizh En Makkal (My Tamil language and my people).At the time the party was created it was considered to be pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The party opposed the presence of Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka stating that the force was trying to wipe out the LTTE and its leader V. Prabhakaran.[14] The party also urged the Government of India to hold talks with the LTTE without any pre- condition.

Merger with Janata Dal

The party lost every seat it contested for in the 1989 elections. Sivaji himself lost at Thiruvaiyaru to a DMK candidate by a margin of 10,643 votes. Soon after the election he dissolved the party and asked his party cadres to join Janata Dal which he himself did after an invitation from V. P. Singh. Later in his life Sivaji Ganesan regretted to have ever floated his own party and reportedly said:

Many of the people with me were professional politicians. They had to remain in politics necessarily to make a living. I was compelled to start a party for their sake, although I did not require it.

On other occasion he added:

The votes that I secured came from people of another party. It is true that I was defeated. This was a big disappointment and a very difficult situation that I faced. What could one do? When we take wrong decisions, we have to face disappointments.