He later started a new party called MGR Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 1996 due to a rift with Jayalalitha, in the legislative assembly elections in Tamil Nadu 2001 MGR ADMK had put up three candidates (supported by NDA), out of whom two were elected. The party received 129 474 votes and in 2002 MGR ADMK merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).He won the Pudukottai Lok Sabha Constituency in 1999 and was Union minister of state for Shipping and later, Communication and Information Technology til 2004.
