CM Vijay campaigned in Madurantakam for TVK candidate Maragatham Kumaravel, saying he came as the people’s son rather than as Chief Minister, defending state borrowing as spending for the people, and attacking the DMK and AIADMK.
By-Elections 2026 · Polling 6 Oct · Result 9 Oct
Madurantakam full coverage ›Dharapuram full coverage ›Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay opened his by-election campaign in Madurantakam on September 25, 2026, seeking votes for TVK candidate Maragatham Kumaravel ahead of the October 6 poll. On his way to the meeting he garlanded the MGR statue in Madurantakam. The rally was held near the Aathur toll plaza on the Chennai–Trichy highway, on a 40-acre ground chosen after police found the original 10-acre site at Acharapakkam too small and risky for highway traffic. Entry was by QR-coded pass for about 5,000 people.
Ministers N. Anand, Mariya Wilson and Viswanathan, along with Congress MP Sudha, received the Chief Minister, according to Maalaimalar. Ministers N. Anand, Rajmohan and Aadhav Arjuna, and candidate Maragatham Kumaravel, also addressed the crowd (Maalaimalar, Rockfort Times).
Vijay opened with his signature greeting to “the people of Madurantakam who live in my heart.” The main points of his speech, as reported by Maalaimalar, ETV Bharat and Vikatan:
| Theme | What he said |
|---|---|
| Why he came | He said he had not come as Chief Minister but to ask for votes as the family’s son and brother. |
| TVK’s mandate | He asked why TVK should not govern on its own strength, with the support of women and youth, to end bribery and corruption. |
| Borrowing | He said the government borrows to do good for people, not to loot, and that promises would be fulfilled step by step. “I am not against development,” he said. |
| DMK | Reviving the MGR-era phrase “evil force,” he accused senior DMK figures of vulgar public speech and said the corrupt would not be spared. |
| AIADMK | He accused the AIADMK of indirectly helping the DMK and of trying, with the DMK, to stop TVK from forming a government after it won 108 seats. |
| Stalin | “Whether he wins or loses, he is my uncle — my sweet uncle,” he said of the DMK president. |
| Stalin’s assets | He challenged the DMK president to publish his assets before and after entering politics and to say whether he had ever misused public money (IANS). |
| “So what?” | Answering DMK jibes that he “was not even born” when past scandals happened, he said he had watched the state’s politics for 35 years and would keep asking questions (DTNext, IANS). |
| Candidate’s switch | He defended Maragatham Kumaravel’s move from AIADMK to TVK as a political decision amid shifting equations, and asked voters to look beyond her resignation (DTNext). |
| MGR supporters | He told MGR’s followers not to fear, saying he would stand with them (Vikatan). |
Making his central appeal, Vijay asked the people of Madurantakam to vote for the Whistle for “your sister, the woman of our own home, my thangachi (younger sister) Maragatham Kumaravel” (Nakkheeran, Minnambalam). He said there would be no compromise on women’s safety under his government, and told voters that a vote for the Whistle would be the strongest answer to those who speak about women in a defamatory or vulgar way (ETV Bharat, Nakkheeran). Recalling the free bus travel scheme for women, he described women across Tamil Nadu “whistling along with the conductor” (Minnambalam).
Vijay set out a three-part pledge on public funds: “We will not touch people’s money; we will not let anyone touch it; and we will not spare those who have touched it.” He challenged his opponents to say whether they could claim never to have touched public money, and never to have been involved in corruption (ETV Bharat, Kalki Online).
He also spoke about his experience in the Assembly: opponents tell him to “speak, speak”, he said, but do not let him speak when he begins — and when he raises corruption, they ask for evidence, and when evidence is given, they say it has not been proved in court. Being new to the Assembly, he said, the constant interruptions had left him unsure at times whether to continue (Kalki Online, Rockfort Times). These are Vijay’s campaign arguments, reported as such.
Vijay told the gathering that a position in government is not power but responsibility, and that Madurantakam needed new hope — “and the name of that hope is Maragatham Kumaravel” (ETV Bharat).
DTNext described the rally as a sharp political offensive against the DMK, AIADMK and BJP, in which Vijay also branded the DMK the “real BJP”. IANS noted that he did not present evidence for specific corruption allegations, and reported his claim that the DMK now sees TVK as its main challenger.
Continuing the line TVK began on September 23, Vijay asked why MK Stalin had stayed silent on the POCSO case involving Gem Granites founder R. Veeramani, which TVK says was weakened under the previous DMK government. Minister Aadhav Arjuna raised the same case from the stage.
Madurantakam (SC) and Dharapuram (SC) fell vacant after Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama — both elected on AIADMK tickets in April — resigned and joined TVK. The contest is five-cornered: TVK, DMK (I. Paranthamen), AIADMK (Kanitha Sampath, MLA 2011–2016), CPI(M) and NTK (K. Janakiraman). AIADMK’s Edappadi K. Palaniswami is campaigning in the constituency on September 25–26.
Vijay addresses a public meeting in Dharapuram on September 30 and holds a roadshow through Madurantakam on October 2. Polling is on October 6 and counting on October 9.
By-Election Madurantakam September 25 2026 Day 138