MLA · 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly (2026–31)Former MLA · 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly (2026–31)

M. Arul Prakasam
  • Won 2026 by 28,514

M. Arul Prakasam

எம். அருள் பிரகாசம்

MLA for Saidapet since May 2026MLA for Saidapet, 2026–31TVK

  • AC 23 · Chennai district
  • Sitting MLA · 17th Assembly (2026–31)
  • Age 44 at the 2026 election
declared assets
₹1.68 cr
pending criminal cases
0
education
10th pass
times elected MLA
1

Assets, cases and education as declared in the 2026 sworn affidavit to the Election Commission of India. Age: from the Election Commission's candidate profile.

How did my village vote?Saidapet seat page

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Career

M. Arul Prakasam: the career, year by year

First elected to the Assembly in 2026

  • Assembly win
  • Office held
  • Party
  1. Pre-2024

    Builds Tejas Builders as a Chennai construction firm; was, in 2026, Managing Trustee, Sri Arangar Arutkudil, his charitable trust.

  2. 2024–2025

    Joins TVK as the party builds out its Chennai cadre; described in coverage of the campaign as a TVK Saidapet candidate with a focus on land-titles delivery.

  3. Mar 2026

    Announced by Vijay as TVK candidate for Saidapet (AC 23), drawing the marquee match-up against then-Health Minister Ma. Subramanian (DMK).

  4. Campaign

    Tells The Hindu his first focus, if elected, will be the issuance of land titles (pattas) for residents of Saidapet's older tenement and slum-clearance pockets.

  5. 4 May 2026

    Won Saidapet for the TVK (polling was on 23 April).

    See the full 2026 result
  6. 11 May 2026

    Took oath as MLA in the first session of the 17th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Profile

About M. Arul Prakasam

A Chennai builder who runs Tejas Builders and was, in 2026, managing trustee of Sri Arangar Arutkudil, Arul Prakasam is one of the most-watched TVK first-timers, having unseated a sitting cabinet minister in a Chennai heartland constituency.

Party
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam
Born
Around 1982; son of P. S. Mani; voter enrolment in Sholinganallur, Chennai
Profession
Builder — Managing Director, Tejas Builders; Managing Trustee, Sri Arangar Arutkudil; first-time MLA of 2026, Saidapet (TVK)
District
Chennai

Education

  • 199610th standard (SSLC) — St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Tirupapuliyur.

Party & ideology

Arul Prakasam is the TVK 'self-made entrepreneur' archetype — first-generation business, modest formal education, drafted to anchor a Dravidian-stronghold Chennai seat. His Saidapet platform centres on the long-running pattas (land-title) delivery problem in older tenement and slum-clearance neighbourhoods, civic infrastructure for the dense central-Chennai wards, and the TVK manifesto's urban-services chapter — a pitch that visibly resonated against the DMK incumbent's ten-year hold on the seat.

Family

Married. Father's name P. S. Mani per the 2026 ECI affidavit; spouse listed as a fellow trustee of Sri Arangar Arutkudil. Voter enrolment in Sholinganallur, Chennai.

Notable statements

“The issuance of land titles (pattas) will be the first focus if elected to power in the Saidapet Assembly Constituency.”

— M. Arul Prakasam · interview to The Hindu, April 2026

Questions people ask

Who is M. Arul Prakasam?

M. Arul Prakasam was elected in 2026 as the TVK MLA for Saidapet (AC 23) in Chennai. A first-generation Chennai builder, he runs Tejas Builders and was, in 2026, managing trustee of Sri Arangar Arutkudil. He won his debut Assembly election with 81,205 votes — defeating DMK's M. Subramanian, the then Health Minister, by 28,514 votes.

Did he really beat the Health Minister?

Yes. Ma. Subramanian had been the DMK Health Minister in M. K. Stalin's 2021-26 cabinet and was the sitting MLA for Saidapet. The 2026 result: Arul Prakasam (TVK) 81,205, Subramanian (DMK) 52,691 — a 28,514-vote margin in a 15-candidate field. It was among the more striking incumbency upsets of the 2026 cycle in Chennai.

What does his 2026 affidavit show?

Total assets of around Rs 1.67 crore against Rs 18.57 lakh in liabilities (three ICICI Bank loans). No criminal cases. Annual income of Rs 9.99 lakh in 2024-25. Education up to SSLC (1996). Profession: builder and trustee.

Other MLAs from Chennai district

N. Marie WilsonDr.Radhakrishnan Nagar · TVKC. Joseph VijayPerambur · TVKV. S. BabuKolathur · TVKAadhav ArjunaVillivakkam · TVKM. R. PallaviThiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar · TVKRajmohanEgmore · TVKK. V. Vijay DamuRoyapuram · TVKP. K. SekarbabuHarbour · DMKUdhayanidhi StalinChepauk-Thiruvallikeni · DMKJ. C. D. PrabhakarThousand Lights · TVKV. K. RamkumarAnna Nagar · TVKR. SabarinathanVirugampakkam · TVKN. AnandThiyagarayanagar · TVKP. VenkataramananMylapore · TVKR. KumarVelachery · TVK

Page last changed 2 October 2026.

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