The Assembly byelections in Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district and Dharapuram in Tiruppur district in Tamil Nadu went off peacefully on Tuesday (October 6, 2026).

Barring some glitches in the EVMs that were attended to immediately, polling in Madurantakam district was peaceful, with 86.26% voters exercising their franchise.

While the final polling figures are still awaited, the turnout was lower than the 93.22% that the constituency had registered during the Assembly election in April-May this year.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Maragatham Kumaravel, who won on AIADMK ticket in the Assembly election and then switched to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which has fielded her now.

Polling began on a sluggish pace but picked up pace from 9 a.m., elections officials said.

In polling booth number 26 at Sithandi, the control unit of the EVM malfunctioned and had to be replaced twice.

This led to a delay in the start of polling.

Similarly, in booth number 55 at L.

Endathur, the ballot unit of the EVM had to be replaced after polling agents objected to a mark visible on the name of a candidate.

The ruling TVK lodged a complaint against DMK candidate I.

Paranthamen for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct when he spoke to reporters, alleging horse-trading by the TVK, pointing at a complaint filed by two Opposition MLAs with the DVAC.

Denying any violation, Mr.

Paranthamen said his party was in possession of screen shots of a message that many voters in Madurantakam received on Monday, containing details of their EPIC and polling booths, with the picture of the TVK candidate.

“This happened during the silent period.

We have given a written complaint with proof,” he told The Hindu.

Tamil Nadu byelections: why only two of the seven vacant constituencies are going to polls?

AIADMK candidate S.

Kanitha Sampath said young voters might not have voted for the TVK in large numbers this time because of several reasons, including the increase in the prices of essential commodities and electricity tariff.

CPI(M) candidate P.

Suganthi alleged that the lack of basic facilities such as drinking water, wheelchairs, and ‘shamiana’ at certain booths caused hardship to the voters.

Among the voters at one of the booths at Mamandur was Divya Priya, a final-year anaesthesiology student, who was voting for the second time in six months.

She said she turned up to vote so that the political party of her choice would win.

Miles away at Pallipettai, Monishasree, an employee of an IT company in Chennai and a second-time voter, entered the polling booth with her mother to vote.

“She has taken a day’s leave to come here and vote,” says Bhagyalakshmi, 64, her mother.

For reaching Pallipettai, one has to reach Acharapakkam where government buses mostly do not stop.

“I wasn’t surprised when they stopped today, perhaps because of the election.

Else, I get down six kilometres away at Melmaruvathur and wait for my father to pick me up,” Monishasree said.

Outside the polling station, Senthamarai, 93, was seen walking past.

Asked if she had voted, she said she had cast her vote through postal ballot and was out for a mid-day stroll.

The district election officials had received 434 postal ballots from from voters aged above 85 and 459 postal ballots from people with disabilities.

Chengalpattu Collector M.

Veerappan said the polling was peaceful.

The EVMs have been moved to the strong room at the Integrated Training Institute for Social Development, Athur.

Thattanchavady Assembly constituency records 80.

81% voting in the byelection 80.3% polling in Dharapuram The Dharapuram (reserved) constituency, which has 2,23,306 voters, recorded 80.3% polling.

The voting was disrupted for a while at a couple of booths.

The turnout that was sluggish in the morning hours picked up as the day progressed.

However, the turnout was lesser in the byelection than in the April-May Assembly election which recorded 89.9%.

A larger number of the State police and CISF personnel was deployed at 18 of the 320 booths identified as sensitive.

Officials said polling went off without any untoward incident, and the disruption at two booths was addressed immediately.

Police personnel outside the Kolinjivadi booth in the Dharapuram constituency where a commotion erupted over an allegation by a voter that she was “prompted” by a polling staffer to vote for the TVK candidate. | Photo Credit: S.

Siva Saravanan Polling halted Polling was halted at the Kolinjivadi booth (137) in Dharapuram town for half-an-hour in the morning hours after a voter, Jaithun Beevi, 75, alleged that she was prompted by an election worker to press the TVK symbol on the EVM.

DMK agents demanded action against the worker.

They relented after officials assured them of follow-up action.

At the booth at Kavundachipudur in Dharapuram town, the presence of a TVK agent, Saravanan, triggered a protest by DMK workers, leading to the disruption of the voting.

The DMK workers argued that Saravanan, who was previously with the DMK, did not belong to the particular ward of the Dharapuram Municipality where the booth was located.

Returning Officer and Dharapuram Revenue Divisional Officer Felix Raja intervened and explained to the DMK workers that there were no restrictions on candidates appointing party agents anywhere in the constituency, provided the candidates had submitted Form 10 applications for them.

The voting resumed, only to be disrupted again by DMK workers, who demanded that Saravanan be removed from the booth.

TVK functionary and former Minister K.V.

Ramalingam met the RDO and sought his intervention.

Subsequently, Saravanan was permitted to continue as the TVK’s agent at the booth.

At an urban booth in Dharapuram, Pavithra, a first-time voter in the April-May Assembly election, opined that the byelection was an opportunity for the people to choose a better candidate.

“In the byelection, there was no pressure from my daughter to vote for any particular party,” her father Saminathan said.

P.

Sathyabama of the TVK, who had won earlier as the AIADMK candidate by securing 40.56% of 1,99,944 votes, is pitted against S.

Suganya of the DMK and Banumathi of the AIADMK.

In the April-May election, Gowri Chitra of the TVK came third, with 46,438 votes, securing 23.23% of the votes polled.

The DMK, whose candidate T.

Indirani polled 63,336 votes accounting for 32.2%, is testing its strength without the support of allies in the byelection.

After polling came to a close, officials sealed the EVMs and the VVPATs for moving them to the strong room at LRG Government Arts and Science College at Tiruppur.

A total of 384 EVMs were utilised for the byelection.

The votes will be counted on October 9.