Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Voting was under way in the SC-reserved Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly by-elections in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, with polling progressing briskly and no major untoward incident or widespread technical failure reported. Polling began at 7 am and is scheduled to continue till 6 pm.
According to Election Commission figures released at 11 am, Madurantakam recorded 35.55 per cent polling and Dharapuram 37.28 per cent. Election officials said polling stations in both constituencies had been seeing a steady flow of voters across age groups since morning, even as the contests are being closely watched as the first electoral test for the ruling TVK after it came to power in May.
advertisement
A few booths reported minor technical glitches, including brief delays linked to VVPAT or EVM connections during the mock-poll process, but standby engineers cleared them before voting gathered pace. At the Thandarai polling booth in Madurantakam, voting was briefly paused after DMK agents alleged that indelible ink marks had been placed on the EVM button next to the TVK candidate’s “whistle” symbol, potentially influencing voters. Election officers inspected the machine, resolved the issue and resumed polling.
At the Vilvarayanallur polling station in Madurantakam, DMK cadres accused local police of allowing ruling TVK workers to stand closer to the booth entrance than the distance permitted under the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct. Despite these brief interruptions, polling continued peacefully under heavy deployment of local police and Central Armed Police Forces. Long queues of women voters were seen outside polling stations in rural and semi-urban pockets of both constituencies.
Dharapuram had set the early pace with 17.55 per cent turnout at 9 am, while Madurantakam recorded 15.99 per cent. Election officials said queues were slightly heavier at urban polling stations in Dharapuram town than in smaller rural areas. As the heat increased in the afternoon, the pace of voting slowed and was expected to pick up after lunch.
The by-elections have drawn intense political attention because TVK, led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, is facing its first electoral battle of legitimacy after forming the government in May. Its candidates, K Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama, are former AIADMK MLAs who shifted to TVK days after winning the April 2026 Assembly polls on the Dravidian party’s ticket. The opposition AIADMK and DMK have accused them of “betrayal” and “horse-trading”, charges TVK has dismissed. TVK has 107 MLAs and heads a coalition government with the Congress, VCK and IUML, while the CPI(M) and CPI, with two MLAs each, are extending outside support.
During the campaign, DMK president M K Stalin attacked the TVK leadership, calling the by-elections an unnecessary financial burden caused by “political horse-trading” and “betrayal”.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami accused the TVK candidates of “blatantly betraying” his party and the voters who elected them in April, and urged people to punish the defectors and teach TVK a lesson for allegedly encouraging defections. AIADMK fielded S Kanitha Sampath in Madurantakam and K Bhanumathi in Dharapuram, while the DMK named I Paranthamen in Madurantakam and advocate S Suganya in Dharapuram.
With the Left Front and Seeman-led NTK also in the fray, the contests have become keenly watched five-cornered battles.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
