The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) established clear leads in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram reserved Assembly constituencies, where counting of votes are under way for the byelections held on October 6, 2026. The counting of votes began at 8 a.m. on Friday (October 9).

In Madurantakam, at the end of the 13^th round of counting, TVK candidate Maragatham Kumaravel had secured 46,895 votes, ahead of the DMK’s I. Paranthamen, who had polled 32,786 votes. The AIADMK’s S. Kanitha Sampath was in third place with 28,664 votes.

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In Dharapuram, at the end of the 20^th round, the TVK’s P. Sathyabama had secured 60,078 votes, compared with 50,075 votes for the DMK’s S. Suganya and 38,760 votes for the AIADMK’s K. Banumathi.

The bypolls in the two constituencies were necessitated after Ms. Kumaravel and Ms. Sathyabama, who had won the Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats, respectively, as AIADMK candidates in the 2026 Assembly elections, resigned as MLAs and joined the ruling TVK. Held after the TVK came to power in May, the bypolls were seen as a test of the party’s popularity, while the opposition AIADMK sought to win back the seats.