No surprises in byelection results in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as voters favour the ruling party candidates
The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party won two assembly byelections in Tamil Nadu, while the All India N.R. Congress retained its seat in Puducherry. The results reinforce the trend of voters favoring incumbent parties in regional byelections.
Why it matters
These results provide an early indicator of the political stability and public support for the new TVK government in Tamil Nadu.
The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which came to power in Tamil Nadu exactly five months ago, passed its first electoral test in Tamil Nadu on Friday (October 9, 2026), bagging the Madurantakam and Dharapuram (Reserved) Assembly constituencies. In Puducherry, the ruling All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) retained Thattanchavady.
Both in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, TVK nominees Maragatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama were elected with comfortable margins of 20,040 votes and 9,471 votes respectively. They won from these constituencies in April-May 2026 as AIADMK candidates and then defected to the ruling party after resigning as MLAs.
This time, they defeated the nearest rivals, I. Paranthamen and S. Suganya, both of the DMK. S. Kanitha Sampath and K. Banumathi of the AIADMK finished third.
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