States » SouthPosted at: Oct 6 2026 1:43PM


TN bypolls : Moderate to brisk polling, over 55 pc turnouts in Madurantakam, Dharapuram till 1.00 pm

Chennai, Oct 6 (UNI) Moderate to brisk turnout was witnessed as pver 55 per cent of the voters have cast their ballots as polling for the by-elections to the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Reserved Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu which began on Tuesday morning, progressed smoothly, amid tight security.
According to reports 35.55 per cent voting was recorded in the first four hours till 1100 hrs in Madurantakam, while it was 37.28 per cent in Dharapuram.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) the turn out was 55.18 and 56.09 per cent till 1300 hrs in Madurantakam and Dharapuram respectively. It marked a significant jump in percentage considerring that the turnout was arond 15-17 per cent in both the seats in the first two hours.
The bypoll which is witnessing a tough five-cornered contest is seen as a referendum for the the nearly five-month-old nascent TVK government headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay.
Braving the heat, a large number of people, especially women, turned up to cast their ballot as polling continued in 605 booths in both the constituencies.
An estimated 4.35 lakh voters -- 2.13 lakh in Madurantakam and 2.23 lakh in Dharapuram -- are expected to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 49 candidates(32 men, 17 women) in the two seats which fell vacant following the resignation of Rebel AIADMK MLAs leading to the bypolls. While there at 27 candidates in Madurantakam (15 men, 12 women), a total of 22 candidates are contesting in Dharapuram (17 men, 5 women).
Those in the race are candidates of the ruling TVK, which had expectedly fielded turncoats Ms.K.Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam) and Ms.P.Sathyabama (Dharapuram) amid criticisms from the opposition parties and the supporting Left parties-- who had held the seat before they relinquished their posrts, quit the AIADMK and joined the TVK.
Apart from Maragatham Kumaravel, DMK's I.Paranthaman, former MLA Ms.Kanitha Sampath of AIADMK, Ms.P.Suganthi of CPI-M and Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK)'s K,Janakiraman are in the fray in Madurantakam, while Sathyabama (TVK), Ms.S.Suganya (DMK), AIADMK's Ms.K.Bhanumathi, P.Lakshmanan of CPI and NTK's M.Karthika are the main contestants in Dharapuram. The rest were Independents.
Candidates of the three main parties in both the seats, TVK, DMK and AIADMK, exuded confidence of winning the bypolls going by
the brisk turnout at polling booths.
UNI GV 1340
Tags: #TN bypolls : Moderate to brisk polling# over 55 pc turnouts in Madurantakam# Dharapuram till 1.00 pm
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