The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which came to power in Tamil Nadu exactly five months ago, passed its first electoral test in Tamil Nadu on Friday (October 9, 2026), bagging the Madurantakam and Dharapuram (Reserved) Assembly constituencies. In Puducherry, the ruling All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) retained Thattanchavady.

Both in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, TVK nominees Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama were elected with comfortable margins of 20,040 votes and 9,471 votes respectively. They won from these constituencies in April-May 2026 as AIADMK candidates and then defected to the ruling party after resigning as MLAs.

AIADMK placed third

This time, they defeated the nearest rivals, I. Paranthamen and S. Suganya, both of the DMK. S. Kanitha Sampath and K. Banumathi of the AIADMK finished third.

The candidates put up by the CPI and the CPI(Marxist) in Dharapuram and Madurantakam, as part of the Left bloc, fared miserably; so did the nominees of the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). All the four contestants forfeited their deposits. The NTK, which came fourth in both constituencies, secured 2.92% and 1.46% of the votes polled, while the CPI got about 0.6% in Dharapuram and the CPI(M) 1.07% in Madurantakam.

With the victory in the two constituencies, the TVK’s strength in the Assembly rose to 108, excluding the Speaker. Five seats are still vacant.

The State is known for favouring the party in power in byelections. However, the Madurantakam and Dharapuram byelections, held in five months of the TVK capturing power, were watched closely. Leaders of the three major contenders were deeply involved in the campaign.

TVK president and Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay campaigned two days each in the two constituencies, as it was done by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. As for the principal Opposition DMK, its leader M.K.Stalin, former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, and Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi Rajathi Karunanidhi canvassed votes for the party nominees. Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) general secretary Premallatha Vijayakant campaigned for the nominees of the AIADMK and the DMK respectively.

While the TVK saw the byelections as a chance for popular endorsement of its rule, the DMK accused the ruling party of being immature in the manner in which it had been conducting the administration and the AIADMK, alluding to its former members fielded by the ruling party, called upon the electors to reject the “traitors”.

In Thattanchavady, the AINRC’s Ashok Anand outsmarted his immediate challenger, E. Vinayagam of the Congress, by 8,482 votes, almost double the margin recorded by Chief Minister and AINRC founder N. Rangasamy in the April Assembly election. As the Chief Minister was also elected from Mangalam and chose to retain it, the vacancy arose in Thattanchavady. This time, Mr. Anand netted 13,358 votes and Mr. Vinayagam polled 4,876 votes.

The AINRC is being supported by the BJP and the AIADMK, whereas the Congress is being backed by the TVK. Tamil Nadu Minister for Public Works Adhav Arjuna spoke at an indoor meeting there. The DMK, the CPI, the NTK, and six other contestants forfeited their deposits.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday called upon the electorate in Dharapuram (SC) Assembly Constituency to trounce the TVK candidate Sathyabama in the upcoming bypoll, describing her “defection” (from AIADMK) a “treacherous” act.

Campaigning for AIADMK candidate Banumathy at Kannivadi and other locations, Mr. Palaniswami said the party cadre were aghast at the “treacherous act” and would teach a fitting lesson to the TVK candidate for “murdering democracy”.

Describing TVK leader C. Joseph Vijay as a “costly Chief Minister”, he questioned the State government’s rationale behind borrowing ₹1,200 crore to construct a new Assembly Complex at the cost of the poor, and spending as much as ₹5 crore for the CM’s visit to the Mettur dam for water release.

The TVK’s dream of subsuming AIADMK would never materialise, Mr. Palaniswami said. “I joined AIADMK even before you were born,” Mr . Palaniswami told Mr. Vijay.

Slamming the government for not fulfilling the promise to waive crop loans completely, Mr. Palaniswami claimed that the AIADMK government had, under his Chief Ministership, waived crop loans amounting to ₹15,110 crore. Failure to raise old age pension has caused discontent, he said.

The TVK leader’s act of “fleeing” Karur after the stampede claimed 41 lives can never be condoned, he said.

The Communist parties are not convinced of the TVK government’s governance capability, Mr.Palaniswami said, and also questioned the real intent behind the Chief Minister’s visit to London recently.

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Acting on a tip-off, a surveillance team conducted an inspection at Mulanur, and seized ₹40,79,150 lakh in cash from the residence of Viswanathan in the Thalakkarai area and ₹7,63,400 from the residence of house of Selvaraj, also from the same locality.

A total of ₹48,42,550 was not accounted for and would be handed over to the district treasury, official sources said.

Officials are investigating if the money is meant to be distributed to voters by political parties.

Precautionary measures

The Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Dharapuram, Felix Raja, in his capacity as Returning Officer for the Dharapuram (R) Assembly constituency, convened a meeting with owners of marriage halls at the Taluk Office and instructed them not to permit conduct of political events, as per guidelines of Election Commission of India.

Information about political parties or candidates attempting to book marriage halls, while the Election Code of Conduct is in place, must necessarily be conveyed to the officials immediately, the RDO said.