Mettuppalayam
Mettupalayam 2026: TVK's Sunilanand wins by 7,768 votes
Mettupalayam ended a long AIADMK run. Sunilanand took the seat for TVK with 75,664 votes against DMK's Kavitha Kalyanasundaram on 67,896 in a 23-candidate contest. The 7,768-vote margin ends an AIADMK hold that ran across O.K. Chinnaraj's 2006/2011/2016 wins and A.K. Selvaraj's 2021 squeaker.
Top 5 candidates
| # | Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SUNILANAND | TVK | 75,664 | 31.19% |
| 2 | SMT.KAVITHA KALYANASUNDARAM | DMK | 67,896 | 27.99% |
| 3 | O.K.CHINNARAJ | AIADMK | 61,736 | 25.45% |
| 4 | T.R.SHANMUGASUNDARAM | IND | 26,756 | 11.03% |
| 5 | S.GOPALAKRISHNAN | NTK | 6,508 | 2.68% |
Postal ballot breakdown
Postal-ballot leader differs from overall winner. DMK SMT.KAVITHA KALYANASUNDARAM led postal ballots (681), but TVK SUNILANAND won the seat overall (75,664).
| # | Candidate | Party | Postal votes | EVM votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMT.KAVITHA KALYANASUNDARAM | DMK | 681 | 67,215 | 67,896 |
| 2 | O.K.CHINNARAJ | AIADMK | 585 | 61,151 | 61,736 |
| 3 | SUNILANAND | TVK | 272 | 75,392 | 75,664 |
| 4 | T.R.SHANMUGASUNDARAM | IND | 221 | 26,535 | 26,756 |
| 5 | S.GOPALAKRISHNAN | NTK | 58 | 6,450 | 6,508 |
Source: Election Commission of India · Form 20 data via results.eci.gov.in
Past results
Verified winners and runners-up across the last five elections, with the major alliance partners each side fielded.
AIADMK held Mettupalayam in every assembly election from 2001 to 2021; the 2006 contest was decided by just 142 votes.
About Mettupalayam
Mettupalayam is the foothill town where the plains end and the Nilgiri ghat road begins. The Mettupalayam railway station is the lower terminus of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the town runs on areca-nut wholesale trading, Kovai-bound vegetable mandis and small engineering units. The constituency takes in Anaikatti, Karamadai and the river-mouth villages where the Bhavani enters the plains. Politically it has been an AIADMK seat in every election since 2001, with O.K. Chinnaraj winning four terms and A.K. Selvaraj holding on in 2021 by 2,456 votes; 2026 marks the first non-AIADMK win in this seat in twenty-five years.
Things to do in Mettupalayam
Mettupalayam is where the Nilgiri Mountain Railway heritage steam train begins its 46-km climb to Ooty; the morning departure is one of South India's classic rail journeys. The Karamadai Ranganathar temple inside the constituency draws Cauvery-bank pilgrims, and Anaikatti on the Coimbatore road has a Siruvani river forest stretch that is open for day trips.
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