Even one vote can make a difference, goes the famous saying. In K.R. Periakaruppan’s case, it was proved right in Tirupattur. A difference of one vote cost the incumbent DMK MLA his seat in the 2026 Assembly election. The difference went in favour of Tamilaga Vettri  Kazhagam (TVK) candidate Seenivasa Sethupathy R., who was declared the winner. Mr. Periakaruppan had been winning from the constituency since 2006.

In Veppanahalli, the incumbent AIADMK MLA, K.. Munusamy, lost to  P.S. Srinivasan of the DMK by 138 votes. Mr. Srinivasan polled 74,691 votes. In Kanniyakumari, Thalavai Sundaram, the incumbent AIADMK  MLA, won by 214 votes. He defeated Mahesh of the DMK, who polled 74,831 votes. In Polur, R. Abishek of the TVK won by 227 votes, defeating P. Saravanan of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, an ally of the  DMK.

S. Palaniswamy of the AIADMK won in Tirukkoyilur by 285 votes, defeating the trailing candidate of the TVK. The constituency was won in 2021 by former Minister K. Ponmudy, who didn’t contest this time.

S. Sekar of the AIADMK retained Paramathi-Velur only by 308 votes. He defeated K.S. Moorthiy of the DMK. In 2021, he had defeated Mr.  Moorthiy by 7,662 votes. In Kulithalai, Suriyanur A. Chandran of the DMK  defeated G. Balasubramani of the TVK by 579 votes. He polled 68,138 votes.

Vinoth of the TVK, who had campaigned in Kumbakonam using a hologram of TVK chief C. Joseph Vijay, defeated the incumbent DMK  MLA, G. Anbalagan, by 679 votes. The DMK had won six times in the constituency, with Mr. Anbalagan himself having won in the last three times.

In Palani, K. Ravi Manoharan of the AIADMK won by 693 votes, defeating M. Praveen Kumar of the TVK, who polled 66,293 votes. Vanni Arasu of the VCK won in Tindivanam by 734 votes, defeating P. Arjunan of the AIADMK.

Flying high

In Edappadi, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami  recorded the highest victory margin in the State, winning by 98,110 votes. He defeated K. Premkumar, an Independent backed by the TVK. Interestingly, the other high margin victories were largely recorded by the TVK, in and around Chennai and in the adjoining regions. In  Sholinganallur, ECR P. Saravanan of the TVK defeated S. Aravind Ramesh of the DMK by 96,780 votes. In Madhavaram, M.L. Vijayprabhu won by 94,985 votes against S. Sudharsanam of the DMK. In Avadi, R. Ramesh Kumar of the TVK defeated former DMK Minister S.M. Nasar by 76,311. In Poonamallee, R. Prakasam of the TVK defeated A. Krishnaswamy of the DMK by 72,740 votes.

In Tiruppur (North), V. Sathyabama of the TVK, a former AIADMK MP from Tiruppur, won by 69,992 votes against former Minister  M.S.M.  Anandan of the AIADMK. In Maduravoyal, Rhevanth Charan of the TVK  defeated K. Ganapathy of the DMK by 61,509 votes. Mr. Ganapathy won the seat in 2021.

In Salem (West) S. Lakshmanan of the TVK defeated Karthi M. of the  PMK by 74,867 votes. Viralimalai was the other constituency with a victory margin of over 60,000 votes. Here, C. Vijayabaskar of the  AIADMK defeated P. Murugesan of the TVK by 62,073 votes.

Most constituencies with margins above 60,000 votes were won by the  TVK, with the DMK finishing second in a majority of these seats. The distribution of these margins shows a concentration in urban and industrial regions, especially around Chennai, rather than being spread evenly across the State.

Published – May 05, 2026 11:06 pm IST

Pressing for continuity: DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin speaking at a meeting in Madurai on Sunday (April 5, 2026). In an interview, he has said the 2026 Assembly election is about continuing the achievements of the past five years under the ‘Dravidian Model’ government.
| Photo Credit: G. MOORTHY