Aravakurichi
Aravakurichi — DMK's Elango holds the 2016-cancelled seat by 19,382
R. Elango of DMK has retained Aravakurichi by 19,382 votes against TVK's P. Karthikeyan. The Karur-district seat earned national notoriety in 2016 when the Election Commission countermanded the poll over a brazen cash-for-votes operation, the first such cancellation in Tamil Nadu's history. AIADMK's V. Senthilbalaji eventually won the November 2016 by-election by 23,661 votes; Elango took the seat for DMK in 2021, defeating BJP's K. Annamalai by 24,816 votes.
Top 5 candidates
| # | Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ELANGO. R | DMK | 70,827 | 39.48% |
| 2 | KARTHIKEYAN. P | TVK | 51,445 | 28.68% |
| 3 | SELVAKUMAR. K | AIADMK | 49,289 | 27.48% |
| 4 | NAREN. S | NTK | 5,154 | 2.87% |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 637 | 0.36% |
Postal ballot breakdown
| # | Candidate | Party | Postal votes | EVM votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ELANGO. R | DMK | 769 | 70,058 | 70,827 |
| 2 | SELVAKUMAR. K | AIADMK | 466 | 48,823 | 49,289 |
| 3 | KARTHIKEYAN. P | TVK | 327 | 51,118 | 51,445 |
| 4 | NAREN. S | NTK | 71 | 5,083 | 5,154 |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 11 | 626 | 637 |
Source: Election Commission of India · Form 20 data via results.eci.gov.in
How this seat compares
- One of the most crowded ballots in TN 2026 — 31 candidates on this single seat.
Past results
Verified winners and runners-up across the last five elections, with the major alliance partners each side fielded.
The 2016 contest was countermanded by the ECI on May 27, 2016 after over 100 bribery complaints; the by-poll was finally held on November 19, 2016 and won by AIADMK's V. Senthilbalaji. Aravakurichi has otherwise been a DMK seat — Khaleelur Rahman in 2006, Palanisamy in 2011, Elango in 2021 and 2026.
About Aravakurichi
Aravakurichi — AC 134 — is a rural taluk seat in southern Karur district on the dry plain between the Cauvery and the Amaravati. Karur city — the parent district headquarters 30 km north — is the home-textile (bedsheet, towel) export capital and the headquarters of Karur Vysya Bank, founded 1916. The Aravakurichi belt runs on rain-fed cotton, groundnut and Cauvery-canal paddy, with the Kovilur Shiva temple — said to be over 2,000 years old — and the Venjamangudalur shrine as its main heritage anchors. The taluk is also one of the better-known sevalkattu (rooster-fight) circuits in Kongu Nadu, with thousands of birds drawn to Pongal-week meets at Poolamvalasu.
Aravakurichi & Karur textile country
Aravakurichi is a slow drive through cotton fields and canal villages. Stop at the 2,000-year-old Kovilur Shiva temple and the five-tier Venjamangudalur gopuram, then push 30 km up to Karur for a home-textile factory tour and the Pasupatheeswarar temple on the Amaravati bank. Pongal-week visitors can catch a sevalkattu rooster meet at Poolamvalasu before a Kongu chicken-curry lunch.
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