States » SouthPosted at: Oct 8 2026 1:03PM


Bypolls : All set for counting of votes in 2 TN seats, one in Pondy tomorrow

Chennai, Oct 8 (UNI) With voting in the bypoll for the Reserved seats of Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly seats and for the lone Thattanchavady seat in union Territory of Puducherry concluding on Tuesday evening, the focus now shifts to EVMS as the election authorities have made all arrangements for counting of votes in the three seats tomorrow.
The fate of 60 candidates, 49 in the two Tamil Nadu seats (27 in Madurantakam and 22 in Dharapuram) and 11 in Thattanchavady in Puducherry, would be known tomorrow.
While Madurantakam recorded a turnout of 86.26 per cent, about seven per cent less than 93.22 pc registered in the April General elections, the polling percentage in Dharapuram was 80.31 as against 89.89 per centre turnout in April polls.
In Puducherry, the turnout was 80.81 per cent. Among the key candidates in the four-cornered contest included ruling AINRC nominee and former MLA Ashok Anand, contesting as part of NDA, E.Vinayagam of Congress contesting as an ally of the TVK,, DMK's K Sethu alias Sethuselvam, and CPI's A Mohamed Saleem.
The bypoll was caused following the resignation of Chief Minister and AINRC Founder N.Rangasamy, who had won from two seats in the April 9 elections, and chose to retain the Mangalam seat.
Those candidates whose fates were sealed in the EVMs included the ruling TVK, which had expectedly fielded turncoats K.Maragatham Kumaravel (Madurantakam) and 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 were 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 were the main candidates in Dharapuram.
The bypoll, seen as the first-ever acid test for the Vijay government, witnessed a no-holds barred five-cornered contest and was seen as a referendum for the nearly five-month-old nascent TVK regime.
After the polling, the EVMs were sealed were taken to strong rooms which are being guarded by round-the-clock security.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) said "Polling for Bye-Election to Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) Assembly Constituencies have been conducted successfully on 06.10.2026 in 605 polling stations. After completion of poll, polled EVMs and VVPATs have been stored in the respective Strong Rooms in the presence of contesting candidates/their representatives and Central Observer(s) appointed by the poll body under videography."
"As per storage and security protocol prescribed by the ECI, two-tier Armed Security (minimum 1 Platoon Armed Security Force) of the strong room, 24x7 CCTV coverage etc. Reserve EVMs and VVPATs have also been stored in Reserve Strong Room", it said.
Sources said said besides deployment of police and para-military forces, the entire strong room premises in all the three constituencies are being monitored through CCTV cameras.
On the counting day tomorrow, the sealed EVMs will be opened in the presence of election officials and authorised representatives of candidates. The postal ballots would be counted first after which the votes polled in EVMs would be counted in three centres--one in each constituency.
The trends are likely to be knwon by 1000 hrs or 1100 hrs, and the final result was expected by evening or night.
The bypoll held within just five months after Chief Minister Vijay formed the government with a stunning performance in April elections, will test the TVK's governance which has come under sharp attack from all the Opposition parties for not honouring its key pre-poll promises, and its failure on law and order fronts, among other things.
The bypolls is an early acid test for TVK on whether it can consolidate its position further based on Vijay's charisma and its achievements in the last five months. The outcome of this polls was seen as a forerunner to the bye-elections to the other five vacant seats. With many of the AIADMK members, including MLAs and former Ministers having defected and switched loyalties after the April polls, a TVK victory in both Dharapuram and Madurantakam could possibly trigger more exodus from AIADMK, with more fence-sitters set to shift towards the ruling dispensation, that would further dent Edappadi K Palaniswami's image within the AIADMK.
For the AIADMK, retaining the seats -- considered as their strongholds -- would demonstrate the party's resilience and give a boost to general secretary Palaniswami, especially in the context of AIADMK suffering successive poll defeats since 2019 and searching for answers to this riddle.
Despite all the opposition parties, including the DMK and AIADMK castigating the government for its failures on multiple fronts, the TVK, which had ploughed a lone furrow in the April polls and scripted history in its maiden electoral foray, that too in a short span of two years after forming the party, was keen to consolidate its position considering the strength of its coalition.
Despite the bypolls seen as a barometer on the performance of the Vijay government, the multi-cornered contests in both the seats apparently gives an edge to the ruling TVK. Interestingly, this election is the first after post-poll realignment following the former DMK allies teaming up with the TVK and shoring up the Vijay government. Barring the two Left parties, which extend outside support, the Congress, VCK and IUML have joined the cabinet and formed the TVK-led Secular Social Justice Vettri Alliance, keeping the Vettri (VIctory) tag intact in the TVK. The MDMK of Vaiko, which was the latest to walk out of the DMK Front, is also part of the TVK-led Front, adding strength to the coalition.
Political observers said the neutral stand adopted by the Vanniyar-OBC dominated PMK, an ally of the AIADMK-led NDA, has given added advantage to the TVK considering that it has a considerable vote base in Madurantakam, which could tilt the scales in the ruling party's favour.
The bypoll was held in the backdrop of widespread speculations after PMK announced its neutral stand, that it could be accommodated in the Vijay Ministry with a Cabinet berth to PMK Legislature Party Leader Ms.Sowmya Anbumani, who is also the wife of PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss. However, Sowmya had sought to downplay it terming it as mere rumours.
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Tags: #Bypolls : All set for counting of votes in 2 TN seats# one in Pondy tomorrow
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