Pennagaram
Pennagaram — TVK's Gajendran takes Hogenakkal seat by just 3,165, narrowest TVK win in the district
TVK's S. Gajendran won Pennagaram by just 3,165 votes over PMK's V. Selvam — a knife-edge flip that ousts sitting MLA G. K. Mani (PMK), who had taken the seat in 2021 by 21,186 votes. Pennagaram has churned every cycle: DMK's P. N. Periannan won in 2006 (26,932 margin), CPI's N. Nanjappan flipped it in 2011 (11,543), DMK's P. N. P. Inbasekaran took it back in 2016 (18,446 over PMK's Anbumani Ramadoss), and PMK's G. K. Mani won in 2021. The 2026 TVK squeaker continues the seat's tradition of flipping every cycle — but this time without crossing into a major-party result. Pennagaram is the seat for Hogenakkal, the cataract where the Cauvery enters TN.
Top 5 candidates
| # | Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GAJENDRAN. S. | TVK | 81,240 | 36.02% |
| 2 | SELVAM. V. | PMK | 78,075 | 34.62% |
| 3 | G. K. M. TAMILKUMARAN | CONG | 53,901 | 23.90% |
| 4 | PALANIYAMMAL. T. | NTK | 7,358 | 3.26% |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 674 | 0.30% |
Postal ballot breakdown
Postal-ballot leader differs from overall winner. PMK SELVAM. V. led postal ballots (1,338), but TVK GAJENDRAN. S. won the seat overall (81,240).
| # | Candidate | Party | Postal votes | EVM votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SELVAM. V. | PMK | 1,338 | 76,737 | 78,075 |
| 2 | G. K. M. TAMILKUMARAN | INC | 967 | 52,934 | 53,901 |
| 3 | GAJENDRAN. S. | TVK | 767 | 80,473 | 81,240 |
| 4 | PALANIYAMMAL. T. | NTK | 124 | 7,234 | 7,358 |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 18 | 656 | 674 |
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.
Pennagaram is one of TN's most party-fluid seats — DMK (2006), CPI on the AIADMK alliance (2011), DMK (2016), PMK on the AIADMK alliance (2021), and TVK (2026) have each carried it once. PMK's V. Selvam — the 2026 runner-up by 3,165 votes — was also the 2011 runner-up here as a PMK candidate on the DMK alliance. Anbumani Ramadoss (the PMK president himself) was the 2016 runner-up. The 2026 squeaker continues the every-cycle-flip pattern.
About Pennagaram
Pennagaram — AC 58 — covers the western, river-belt half of Dharmapuri district, anchored by the Hogenakkal Falls — the cataract where the Cauvery, having flowed through Karnataka, drops onto the TN plains in a series of carbonatite-rock falls and gorges. Hogenakkal is one of TN's most-photographed natural wonders and a coracle-ride destination. The constituency has historically swung between every major party — DMK, CPI, AIADMK and PMK have all carried it in the post-2008 era — making 2026's tight TVK win continue the every-cycle-flip pattern. The Dharmapuri-Pennagaram road runs through hilly rain-fed farming country (Theni mango, ragi, finger millet).
Pennagaram & Hogenakkal
Pennagaram is the seat for Hogenakkal — the cataract where the Cauvery, having wound through Karnataka, plunges onto the TN plains in a fan of falls between carbonatite cliffs. The coracle-ride down the gorge is one of South India's defining river experiences (best between October and February when the river is full but not dangerous). Eat fresh river-fish fry on the rocks below the falls; head 30 km east to Adhiyamankottai's pre-Chola fort or south to Theerthamalai hill temple, and 50 km west takes you back across the border to Karnataka's Mettur reservoir headworks.
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