#Defections

Fort St. George, seat of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Two of its seats fell vacant within five weeks of the April election.

Resign, switch, recontest: the loophole voters are paying for

The Madurantakam and Dharapuram byelections were caused by two MLAs who resigned and changed parties a month after being elected. The Tenth Schedule cannot stop this. Parliament should.

1 October 2026 · 2 min read

The control unit of an electronic voting machine. Polling in Madurantakam and Dharapuram is on October 6; votes will be counted on October 9.

Politics

Two reserved seats, five parties: what is at stake in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls

Both seats fell vacant when AIADMK MLAs elected in April resigned and joined the ruling TVK on the same day. On October 6 they seek re-election on the TVK ticket against the DMK, the AIADMK, the NTK and the Left.

1 October 2026 · 3 min read