Tamil Nadu by-election history, 2011 to 2026
Between 13 October 2011 and 6 October 2026, Tamil Nadu held by-elections in 41 Assembly seats on 17 polling days. The party in power on polling day won 25 of the 41 (61%). The last in this list, Madurantakam and Dharapuram, were polled 6 October 2026 and counted 9 October 2026: TVK won both. Checked 11 October 2026.
The short version
- 41 seats, 17 polling days, from 13 October 2011 to 6 October 2026. Two polling days in 2019 alone covered 22 seats.
- The AIADMK government won 21 of 35 seats polled while it was in power; the DMK government won 2 of 4 (its ally Congress won the other two); the TVK government won 2 of 2.
- Apart from the 22 seats polled in April and May 2019, the AIADMK government won 12 of 13; in those 22 the DMK won 13 and the AIADMK 9.
- Biggest margin: Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, 1,50,722 votes (AIADMK, 2015). Closest: Sattur, 456 votes (AIADMK, 2019).
- One independent has won: T. T. V. Dhinakaran at Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, polled 21 December 2017.
The party in power won 25 of 41; the other 16 went to the DMK (13), Congress (2) and one independent.
The party in power: how it fared
| Party in power | Seats | Ruling party won | Share | Won by others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIADMKuntil May 2021 | 35 | 21 | 60% | DMK 13, IND 1 |
| DMKMay 2021 to May 2026 | 4 | 2 | 50% | INC 2 |
| TVKfrom May 2026 | 2 | 2 | 100% | — |
| All | 41 | 25 | 61% |
“Party in power” is the party of the Chief Minister on polling day (the Assembly's list of Chief Ministers; for 2026, the cabinet record). Congress, which won Erode (East) in 2023 and Vilavancode in 2024, fought as a partner of the DMK-led alliance of 2021; it is counted here as not the DMK. Aravakurichi and Thanjavur (2016) were polls the Commission cancelled in May 2016 and held with Thiruparankundram on 19 November 2016; the Chief Electoral Officer lists all three as bye-elections.
October 2026: Madurantakam and Dharapuram
Polling on 6 October 2026, counting on 9 October 2026. Both seats were won by the AIADMK in April 2026; both members resigned on 25 May 2026 and joined TVK, and both won the seat back for TVK.
- Madurantakam: K. Maragatham Kumaravel TVK 74,048 votes; runner-up I. Paranthamen DMK 54,008; margin 20,040.
- Dharapuram: P. Sathyabama TVK 66,841 votes; runner-up S. Suganya DMK 57,370; margin 9,471.
All 41 seats, one by one
| Polling day | Seat | Winner | Runner-up | Margin | Party in power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 October 2011 | Tiruchirappalli (West) | M. Paranjothi AIADMK | K. N. Nehru DMK | 14,684 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 March 2012 | Sankarankovil (SC) | S. Muthuselvi AIADMK | J. Jawahar Suryakumar DMK | 68,757 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 12 June 2012 | Pudukkottai | Karthik Thondaiman AIADMK | N. Jahir Hussain DMDK | 71,498 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 4 December 2013 | Yercaud (ST) | P. Saroja AIADMK | V. Maran DMK | 78,116 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 24 April 2014 | Alandur | V. N. P. Venkatraman AIADMK | R. S. Bharathi DMK | 18,708 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 13 February 2015 | Srirangam | S. Valarmathi AIADMK | N. Anand DMK | 96,516 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 27 June 2015 | Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar | J. Jayalalithaa AIADMK | C. Mahendran CPI | 1,50,722 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 19 November 2016 | Aravakurichi | V. Senthilbalaji AIADMK | K. C. Pallani Shamy DMK | 23,661 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 19 November 2016 | Thanjavur | M. Rengasamy AIADMK | Anjugam Boopathy DMK | 26,874 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 19 November 2016 | Thiruparankundram | A. K. Bose AIADMK | P. Saravanan DMK | 42,670 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 21 December 2017 | Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar | T. T. V. Dhinakaran IND | E. Madhusudhanan AIADMK | 40,707 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Poonamallee (SC) | A. Krishnaswamy DMK | G. Vaithiyanathan AIADMK | 60,096 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Perambur | R. D. Shekar DMK | R. S. Raajesh AIADMK | 68,023 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Thiruporur | L. Idhayavarman DMK | S. Arumugam AIADMK | 21,013 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Sholinghur | G. Sampathu AIADMK | A. Asokan DMK | 16,056 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Gudiyattam (SC) | S. Kathavarayan DMK | R. Moorthy AIADMK | 27,841 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Ambur | A. C. Vilwanathan DMK | J. Jothi Ramalinga Raja AIADMK | 37,767 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Hosur | S. A. Sathya DMK | S. Jyothi AIADMK | 23,213 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Pappireddipatti | A. Govindasamy AIADMK | A. Mani DMK | 18,493 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Harur (SC) | V. Sampathkumar AIADMK | C. Krishnakumar DMK | 9,394 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Nilakkottai (SC) | S. Thenmozhi AIADMK | C. Soundara Pandian DMK | 20,675 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Thiruvarur | K. Poondi Kalaivanan DMK | R. Jeevanantham AIADMK | 64,571 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Thanjavur | T. K. G. Neelamegam DMK | R. Gandhi AIADMK | 33,980 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Manamadurai (SC) | S. Nagarajan AIADMK | K. Kasilingam DMK | 8,194 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Andipatti | A. Maharajan DMK | A. Logirajan AIADMK | 12,323 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Periyakulam (SC) | K. S. Saravanakumar DMK | M. Mayilvel AIADMK | 20,320 | AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Sattur | M. S. R. Rajavarman AIADMK | V. Srinivasan DMK | 456 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Paramakudi (SC) | N. Sadhan Prabhakar AIADMK | S. Sambathkumar DMK | 14,032 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 18 April 2019 | Vilathikulam | P. Chinnappan AIADMK | A. C. Jayakumar DMK | 28,554 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 19 May 2019 | Sulur | P. Kandhasamy AIADMK | N. Pongalur Palanisamy DMK | 10,106 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 19 May 2019 | Aravakurichi | V. Senthilbalaji DMK | V. V. Senthilnathan AIADMK | 37,957 | AIADMK |
| 19 May 2019 | Thiruparankundram | P. Saravanan DMK | S. Muniyandi AIADMK | 2,396 | AIADMK |
| 19 May 2019 | Ottapidaram (SC) | C. Shunmugaiah DMK | P. Mohan AIADMK | 19,657 | AIADMK |
| 21 October 2019 | Vikravandi | R. Muthamilselvan AIADMK | N. Pugazhenthi DMK | 44,924 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 21 October 2019 | Nanguneri | V. Narayanan AIADMK | R. Manoharan INC | 33,445 | ✓ AIADMK |
| 27 February 2023 | Erode (East) | E. V. K. S. Elangovan INC | K. S. Thennarasu AIADMK | 66,233 | DMK |
| 19 April 2024 | Vilavancode | Tharahai Cuthbert INC | V. S. Nanthini BJP | 40,174 | DMK |
| 10 July 2024 | Vikravandi | A. Anniyur Siva DMK | C. Anbumani PMK | 67,757 | ✓ DMK |
| 5 February 2025 | Erode (East) | V. C. Chandhirakumar DMK | M. K. Seethalakshmi NTK | 91,558 | ✓ DMK |
| 6 October 2026 | Madurantakam (SC) | K. Maragatham Kumaravel TVK | I. Paranthamen DMK | 20,040 | ✓ TVK |
| 6 October 2026 | Dharapuram (SC) | P. Sathyabama TVK | S. Suganya DMK | 9,471 | ✓ TVK |
Download the table as CSV, with the official source of every row · ✓ in the last column: the party in power won the seat.
How we checked, and what is left out
- Where the list comes from. The Chief Electoral Officer's list of completed bye-elections (elections.tn.gov.in) from October 2011, plus the 22 seats of the 2019 rounds that the same office publishes under the 2019 Form 20 and Form 21E pages. Its older block, for 2009, has affidavits only and was not read.
- Where each result comes from. Each seat's own Return of Election (Form 21E) or Form 20, on the same pages. Where a PDF is a scan, we read it with OCR and then checked by eye, and, where the form lists every candidate, against the form's own total of valid votes. Names are spelled as the Commission spells them.
- Left out on purpose. Lok Sabha by-elections (Kanniyakumari, 2021), Rajya Sabha polls, local-body polls, and any seat that fell vacant but had no by-election.
- Polling days. The 2016 and 2019 polling days rest on the Commission's schedule as reported by the press; the others on the Commission's press note or the State's poll-day order. The 2026 pair is the Commission's own result (results.eci.gov.in).
Official pages, polling by polling day
- 13 October 2011 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: State holiday order for 13.10.2011
- 18 March 2012 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI schedule
- 12 June 2012 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: State holiday order for 12.06.2012
- 4 December 2013 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: State holiday order for 04.12.2013; ECI press note
- 24 April 2014 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI notification of 29.03.2014
- 13 February 2015 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: State holiday order for 13.02.2015
- 27 June 2015 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI schedule, State press releases of June 2015
- 19 November 2016 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI schedule as reported by PTI
- 21 December 2017 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note of 24.11.2017
- 18 April 2019 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI schedule as reported by The News Minute
- 19 May 2019 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI schedule as reported by The News Minute
- 21 October 2019 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note of 21.09.2019
- 27 February 2023 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note
- 19 April 2024 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note
- 10 July 2024 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note
- 5 February 2025 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note
- 6 October 2026 · Chief Electoral Officer page; polling day: ECI press note
Questions people ask
How many by-elections has Tamil Nadu had since 2011?
41 Assembly seats went to a by-election on 17 polling days between 13 October 2011 and 6 October 2026, counting the 22 seats polled in April and May 2019.
How often does the ruling party win a by-election in Tamil Nadu?
The party in power on polling day won 25 of the 41 seats (61%). The AIADMK government won 21 of 35, the DMK government 2 of 4, and the TVK government 2 of 2.
When were the latest Tamil Nadu by-elections?
The most recent by-elections in this list, to Madurantakam and Dharapuram, were polled on 6 October 2026 and counted on 9 October 2026. TVK won both, by 20,040 and 9,471 votes respectively.
What was the biggest by-election win?
Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar, polled 27 June 2015: J. Jayalalithaa (AIADMK) won by 1,50,722 votes.
Has an independent ever won a Tamil Nadu by-election since 2011?
Once: T. T. V. Dhinakaran won Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar on 21 December 2017 by 40,707 votes.
Page updated 12 October 2026
Sources: Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, list of completed bye-elections (elections.tn.gov.in) and each seat's Form 20 or Form 21E; Election Commission of India press notes and, for 2026, results.eci.gov.in. Chief Ministers: the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly's list.
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