K. Maragatham Kumaravel
Former AIADMK MLA of Madurantakam; resigned on 25 May and joined TVK. TVK Deputy General Secretary.
Ruling alliance (SSJVA)Home › By-Elections 2026 › Madurantakam
மதுராந்தகம் இடைத்தேர்தல்
The seat fell vacant when K. Maragatham Kumaravel, elected on the AIADMK ticket in May 2026, resigned on 25 May and joined TVK. This is the ruling TVK’s first electoral test since forming the government.
Friday 9 October · counting from 8 AM
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From vacancy to result
Who is contesting
Former AIADMK MLA of Madurantakam; resigned on 25 May and joined TVK. TVK Deputy General Secretary.
Ruling alliance (SSJVA)Former Egmore MLA and DMK legal wing deputy secretary; one of the party’s most vocal critics of TVK.
Former MLA for Madurantakam (2011–2016); announced by Edappadi K. Palaniswami on 10 Sep.
Contesting as part of an independent Left front, outside the ruling alliance.
Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate; polled 4,950 votes here in May 2026.
48 nominations filed · 20 rejected · 28 accepted at scrutiny on 17 Sep. The final list was set when withdrawals closed on 19 Sep.
The last contest · 4 May 2026
K. Maragatham Kumaravel won on the AIADMK ticket in May 2026; she has been MLA for the seat since 2021 and was Kancheepuram MP 2014–19. In May the AIADMK won this seat while TVK’s own candidate finished second, 7,194 votes behind. The bypoll tests whether the winner’s personal vote moves with her to TVK.
Madurantakam has never held a by-election before — this is its first. The AIADMK has won the seat seven times. The constituency has more women voters than men.
Why there is a by-election
25 May 2026 — resignation accepted
K. Maragatham Kumaravel submitted a handwritten resignation to Speaker JCD Prabhakar at the Secretariat, together with fellow AIADMK MLAs from Dharapuram (P. Sathyabama) and Perundurai (S. Jayakumar). The Speaker accepted all three the same day, saying the letters were in order. That evening they joined TVK in the presence of Minister Aadhav Arjuna.
The AIADMK asked the Speaker not to accept the resignations while its plea to disqualify the 25 MLAs who backed the government in the 13 May floor test was pending, and called the move “horse-trading”.
Why only two of seven vacant seats go to polls
Seven Assembly seats are vacant. Only Madurantakam and Dharapuram were scheduled. Polls in the other five — Tiruchi East, Karur, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai and Perundurai — are held up by a Madras High Court stay linked to pending election cases, with final arguments due on 28 September.
Local issues
Watch
On the ground · latest first
Counting began at 8 AM on Friday 9 October. Follow the official count above.
Live count ›Voters turned out in large numbers at 285 polling stations; the Election Commission’s latest provisional figure was 85.98%, against 93.36% in May. EVMs were sealed and moved to the strong room.
Read the full storyCampaigning closed at 6 PM on 4 October, followed by the 48-hour silence period before polling.
Read the full storyNearly 40 villages in four and a half hours from Mamandur to Madurantakam — tea with elders at L. Enathur, a tractor ride at Ramapuram, and door-to-door visits.
Read the full storyRally near the Aathur toll plaza on the Chennai–Trichy highway, moved from Acharapakkam on police advice; QR-pass entry for about 5,000 people. Vijay garlanded the MGR statue on the way and said he came “as your son, not as CM”.
Read the full storyAIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami campaigned in the constituency on 25–26 September.
The Madras High Court dismissed a PIL that sought to bar the former MLAs from recontesting and to recover the cost of the by-election, holding that only the legislature can make such a law.
Read the full storyAfter a DMK petition to the Election Commission, TVK withdrew VCK’s Thol. Thirumavalavan and MDMK’s Vaiko from its list of star campaigners.
PMK announced it would not support any party in the bypolls — seen as a setback for the AIADMK.
Every story on this seat
Candidate details and dates are from Election Commission schedules and news reports. Live counting figures on this page are entered from the Election Commission’s official results (results.eci.gov.in).