Actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) narrowly missed the majority mark in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, falling short of the required 118 seats by just 10 constituencies despite emerging as the single largest party in the state. A detailed examination of the results has revealed how close the party came to securing a full majority, with several constituencies decided by razor-thin margins, as reported in Times of India.
According to the election results, TVK candidates lost in at least 12 constituencies by margins of less than 2,000 votes, indicating that even a minor shift in voter preference could have significantly altered the final political outcome. Here is a look:
- Dindigul lost by 1131 votes
- Kulithalai lost by 579 votes
- Pudukottai lost by 1867 votes
- Kovilpatti lost by 843 votes
- Paramathi – Velur lost by 308 votes
- Karur lost by 1821 votes
- Thirukoyilur lost by 285 votes
- Palani lost by 693 votes
- Killiyoor lost by 1311 votes
- Vikravandi lost by 910 votes
- Papanasam lost by 1065 votes
- Udhagamandalam lost by 976 votes
Among the closest defeats for the party was the Thirukkoyilur constituency in Villupuram district, where TVK candidate Vijay R Baranibalaji lost to AIADMK’s S Palanisamy by just 285 votes, making it one of the narrowest defeats recorded by the party in the election.
At the same time, the election also witnessed dramatic victories for TVK candidates across several constituencies. In seven constituencies, the party registered dominant wins with victory margins ranging from 60,000 to 90,000 votes. Another 27 TVK candidates secured victories by margins between 25,000 and 60,000 votes, underlining the party’s rapid rise across large parts of Tamil Nadu.
One of the most dramatic contests of the election took place in the Tirupathur constituency in Sivaganga district. In what became the closest contest of the election, TVK candidate R Seenivasa Sethupathy defeated sitting minister K R Periyakaruppan by a margin of just one vote, the narrowest possible victory margin in an Assembly election.
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While the narrowest margin was one vote, the party’s largest victory margin came from the Sholinganallur constituency, where the TVK candidate won by an impressive margin of 96,780 votes.
However, the single highest victory margin in the entire state was recorded by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami in the Edappadi constituency in Salem district. He secured 1.48 lakh votes and won by a margin of 98,110 votes. In that constituency, TVK-backed independent candidate Premkumar finished a distant second with 50,823 votes.
Commenting on the result, a senior AIADMK leader claimed that the contest could have been far tighter had the official TVK candidate remained in the fray. The leader stated that if the TVK candidate’s nomination had not been rejected, Palaniswami would have faced a much tougher electoral battle.
Overall, TVK dealt a major blow to both Dravidian parties during the election. The party defeated AIADMK candidates in 25 constituencies and wrested 51 seats from the DMK. Nearly 40 of TVK’s victories against the DMK came from northern Tamil Nadu districts, including 14 constituencies in Chennai, a region long regarded as a stronghold of the DMK.
Victory margins for TVK ranged from a few hundred votes in closely fought seats to more than 50,000 votes in several constituencies, reflecting both intense contests and sweeping victories across the state.
The election also witnessed direct battles between the DMK and AIADMK across 122 constituencies. In these head-to-head contests, the DMK won 18 seats against the AIADMK with victory margins ranging between 6,000 and 23,000 votes. Meanwhile, the AIADMK outperformed the DMK in 21 constituencies, winning by margins ranging from 9,000 to 41,000 votes.
With no single party crossing the majority mark, the election has pushed Tamil Nadu into a hung Assembly scenario, triggering intense negotiations and speculation over possible alliances and support arrangements in the race to form the next government.
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