Tamil Nadu bypolls on two assembly seats on October 6 test Vijay govt

Chennai: Bypolls due on October 6 in two assembly constituencies will be the first major political test for the TVK government led by C. Joseph Vijay, who became Tamil Nadu's chief minister just three months ago. The bypolls are being held for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats.

In this closely fought contest, it will be interesting to see whether TVK gives tickets to the former AIADMK MLAs who resigned from their seats soon after the assembly election results came out in April and joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, or fields some of its own earlier candidates.

Former AIADMK MLAs Margatham Kumaravel and P. Sathyabama had resigned from the Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats respectively, following which these two assembly seats fell vacant and the Election Commission of India announced bypolls for them. Both leaders joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, or TVK, on the same day they announced their decision to quit AIADMK and submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar.

The ruling party has traditionally gained ground in bypolls in the state, but differences within the coalition, an aggressive opposition and important legislative arithmetic will make this electoral contest difficult for TVK. After failing to secure a simple majority following the May 2026 assembly election, TVK formed the government with the support of Congress, VCK, IUML and Left parties. Cross-voting by 22 rebel AIADMK MLAs gave the Vijay Kumar government the support of 144 MLAs, which allowed it to secure a majority in the House.

In the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly, TVK has 107 seats, while 118 are needed for a majority, meaning it has to depend on outside support. For AIADMK, this fight could be deeply personal, as the party is trying to win back seats it lost because of defections by its own members.

AIADMK on Tuesday invited applications from party workers to contest the upcoming bypolls on these two Tamil Nadu assembly seats. AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said bypolls for the Madurantakam (Scheduled Caste) and Dharapuram (Scheduled Caste) seats will be held on October 6. Party workers interested in contesting on behalf of AIADMK can collect application forms from the party headquarters in Chennai starting Tuesday.