Chennai, Oct 2026 : Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) took an early lead in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly by-elections as counting began on Friday, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in second place and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) third in the initial postal ballot trends.
Counting commenced at 8 a.m., with postal ballots taken up first, followed by votes recorded in electronic voting machines (EVMs). The early trends remained provisional, with subsequent rounds of counting expected to provide a clearer picture of the electoral contest.
The strongrooms housing the EVMs were opened in the presence of district election officials, Collectors, returning officers, election observers and agents representing the candidates.
At Madurantakam, arrangements were made for counting EVM votes across 14 tables in 21 rounds, while two separate tables were allocated for postal ballots. Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips will also be counted separately for verification. Security was tightened at the counting centre, with police personnel deployed in large numbers.
Both constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. Madurantakam falls in Chengalpattu district and is part of the Kancheepuram parliamentary constituency, while Dharapuram is located in Tiruppur district in western Tamil Nadu.
The bypolls were necessitated by the resignations of K. Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama, who had won the two seats on AIADMK tickets in the Assembly election earlier this year before joining TVK. The party subsequently fielded both former legislators in their respective constituencies.
Kumaravel had defeated the TVK candidate in Madurantakam by 7,194 votes, while Sathyabama won Dharapuram by a margin of 16,727 votes over her nearest DMK rival. Their subsequent switch to TVK has turned the bypolls into a test of party loyalty and voter support.
The AIADMK fielded Kanitha Sampath in Madurantakam and Bhanumathi in Dharapuram, seeking to retain the constituencies. Polling was held on October 6 following an intensive campaign by ruling party and opposition leaders.
The contests are being closely watched as an early electoral test for Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s government. TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, falling short of the 118 required for a majority.
A victory in either constituency would offer the ruling party a political boost, while the results will also indicate the electoral strength of the DMK and AIADMK. However, the initial postal ballot trends alone do not determine the final outcome.
