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TVK Wins Madurantakam, Dharapuram Bypolls, Reaches 109 Seats
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, or TVK, won two special elections in Tamil Nadu.
The winning candidates were Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama.
Their wins bring TVK’s total to 109 seats in the 234-seat Assembly.
The party still needs eight more seats to reach a simple majority.
The elections happened after the two candidates left the AIADMK and joined TVK.
TVK campaigned for them, and Vijay held roadshows.
Vijay said the wins showed people’s power and described the campaign as free of vote-buying.
DMK leader MK Stalin criticized the elections and called the result temporary.
The two parties therefore offered sharply different views of what the victories meant.
TVK won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram by-elections, raising its Assembly tally to 109 of 234 seats.
The party remains eight seats short of a simple majority.
Maragatham Kumaravel defeated DMK candidate I Paranthamen in Madurantakam; AIADMK candidate S Kanitha Sampath finished third.
P Sathyabama defeated DMK candidate S Suganya in Dharapuram; AIADMK candidate K Banumathi finished third.
TVK leader and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay called the wins a victory for people’s power; DMK leader MK Stalin called them a temporary victory for betrayal.
- Who
- Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam candidates Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, and their rivals from the DMK and AIADMK.
- What
- TVK won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram by-elections, increasing its Assembly tally to 109.
- Where
- Madurantakam and Dharapuram constituencies in Tamil Nadu, India.
- When
- Results were reported on October 9, 2026.
- Why
- The by-elections were held after Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama resigned from their AIADMK seats on May 25 and joined TVK.
TVK and Vijay
DMK and Stalin
Meaning of the victories
TVK and Vijay
Vijay said the results reflected people’s power and a campaign based on affection and relationships, without spending money on votes.
DMK and Stalin
Stalin described the win as a temporary victory for betrayal and said the downfall of false-image politics had begun.
Conduct and democratic significance
TVK and Vijay
Vijay said the victories showed that money power had been defeated and democracy safeguarded.
DMK and Stalin
Stalin called the by-elections a blatant murder of democracy and said Vijay had not shaken the DMK’s influence.
Key facts
- TVK Assembly tally
- 109 of 234 seats
- Seats short of simple majority
- 8
- Madurantakam winner
- Maragatham Kumaravel (TVK), 74,048 votes
- Madurantakam runner-up
- I Paranthamen (DMK), 54,008 votes
- Dharapuram winner
- P Sathyabama (TVK), 66,841 votes
- Dharapuram runner-up
- S Suganya (DMK), 57,370 votes
- By-election trigger
- The winners resigned from their AIADMK seats on May 25 and joined TVK.
Quotes
C Joseph Vijay
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
“This is an election won without spending a single paisa on votes, without confining anyone to a list and humiliating them, without any formula like the Thirumangalam or Erode East formula — relying solely on the formula of love, affection, and relationships, and the formula of safeguarding democracy.”
thehindubusinessline.com
Sources
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