Chengalpattu
Chengalpattu — TVK takes the district HQ by 35,641 votes, ends DMK Varalakshmi's two-term run
TVK's S. Thiyagarajan won Chengalpattu — the district HQ seat — by 35,641 votes over DMK's Karthikdhandapani, ending the two-term run of DMK's M. Varalakshmi (Madhusoodhanan), who had held the seat in 2016 (26,292 margin) and 2021 (26,665). The seat's history is a textbook three-cornered Chengalpattu fight — PMK's K. Arumugam took it in 2006 (10,213 margin), DMDK's D. Murugesan flipped it on a 291-vote knife-edge in 2011 (TN's tightest result that cycle), and DMK's Varalakshmi consolidated it from 2016. The 2026 result is the largest margin Chengalpattu has produced this delimitation cycle.
Top 5 candidates
| # | Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S. THIYAGARAJAN | TVK | 1,37,136 | 42.56% |
| 2 | KARTHIKDHANDAPANI | DMK | 1,01,495 | 31.50% |
| 3 | M.GAJENDRAN | AIADMK | 69,763 | 21.65% |
| 4 | AMUTHA.N | NTK | 12,032 | 3.73% |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 1,395 | 0.43% |
Postal ballot breakdown
Postal-ballot leader differs from overall winner. DMK KARTHIKDHANDAPANI led postal ballots (780), but TVK S. THIYAGARAJAN won the seat overall (1,37,136).
| # | Candidate | Party | Postal votes | EVM votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KARTHIKDHANDAPANI | DMK | 780 | 1,00,715 | 1,01,495 |
| 2 | S. THIYAGARAJAN | TVK | 558 | 1,36,578 | 1,37,136 |
| 3 | M.GAJENDRAN | AIADMK | 483 | 69,280 | 69,763 |
| 4 | AMUTHA.N | NTK | 90 | 11,942 | 12,032 |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 19 | 1,376 | 1,395 |
Source: Election Commission of India · Form 20 data via results.eci.gov.in
How this seat compares
- Among the highest-turnout seats — 3,22,207 votes cast.
Past results
Verified winners and runners-up across the last five elections, with the major alliance partners each side fielded.
Chengalpattu's 2011 contest produced one of TN's most famous photo-finishes — DMDK's D. Murugesan beat PMK's V. G. Rangasamy by just 291 votes. DMK's Varalakshmi won twice consecutively in 2016 and 2021 with near-identical 26K margins; TVK's 35,641-vote 2026 result is the largest produced in the post-2008 era.
About Chengalpattu
Chengalpattu — AC 32 — is the headquarters of Chengalpattu district, the Vijayanagara-era 'Chengai' that gave the district its name. The town sits on the Buckingham Canal–Palar river belt, 55 km south of Chennai on NH-32, and is best known for the Chengalpattu Medical College (one of TN's oldest, established 1965) and the rock-cut Narasimha temple on the town's signature hill. The constituency has been a swing seat through the post-2008 era — PMK, DMDK, DMK and now TVK have each carried it once in this delimitation cycle.
Chengalpattu
Chengalpattu is the Palar-belt headquarters where the Vijayanagara fort once stood — the small hill above town carries a Narasimha cave shrine and a view of the river plain, the medical college's heritage block has been training doctors since 1965, and the town's lakes (Chengalpattu Big Lake, Singaperumal Koil tank) are stops on the Pulicat-to-Pichavaram migratory bird route. Drive 30 km west to Mamandur's Pallava cave temples or south to Mahabalipuram's shore.
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