Tiruchengodu
Tiruchengodu — TVK's Arunraj takes Ardhanareeswarar hill seat by 28,172 votes
TVK's K. G. Arunraj — a 46-year-old MBBS doctor — won Tiruchengodu by 28,172 votes over AIADMK's R. SRMT Sekar (alias Chandrasekar). The seat has produced four near-photo-finishes in five cycles before this one: KMDK's E. R. Eswaran took it by 2,862 votes in 2021 (running on the DMK alliance ticket); AIADMK's Pon. Saraswathi by 3,390 in 2016; DMDK's P. Sampath Kumar by a wider 23,945 in 2011; and AIADMK's P. Thangamani by an absurdly tight 116 votes in 2006. The Ardhanareeswarar Temple on the Tiruchengode hill — one of South India's rare shrines where the deity is worshipped as the half-Shiva, half-Parvati Ardhanari — anchors the constituency.
Top 5 candidates
| # | Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ARUNRAJ K G | TVK | 79,500 | 42.22% |
| 2 | SRMT SEKAR (A) CHANDRASEKAR R | AIADMK | 51,328 | 27.26% |
| 3 | ESWARAN E R | DMK | 49,465 | 26.27% |
| 4 | REVATHI K | NTK | 6,085 | 3.23% |
| 5 | SARAVANASUNDARAM S | IND | 1,190 | 0.63% |
Postal ballot breakdown
Postal-ballot leader differs from overall winner. DMK ESWARAN E R led postal ballots (1,145), but TVK ARUNRAJ K G won the seat overall (79,500).
| # | Candidate | Party | Postal votes | EVM votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ESWARAN E R | DMK | 1,145 | 48,320 | 49,465 |
| 2 | SRMT SEKAR (A) CHANDRASEKAR R | AIADMK | 889 | 50,439 | 51,328 |
| 3 | ARUNRAJ K G | TVK | 676 | 78,824 | 79,500 |
| 4 | REVATHI K | NTK | 84 | 6,001 | 6,085 |
| 5 | SARAVANASUNDARAM S | IND | 17 | 1,173 | 1,190 |
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.
Tiruchengodu has produced four sub-4,000-vote finishes in five cycles before 2026 (116, 1,920 in 2016, 2,862 in 2021 — and 23,945 in 2011 was the only outlier). TVK's 28,172-vote 2026 sweep is the seat's largest margin since 1991. The 2021 winner E. R. Eswaran ran on KMDK on the DMK alliance ticket; KMDK was an AIADMK ally in 2016 and shifted to DMK alliance by 2021. The 2026 runner-up R. Chandrasekar campaigns under his trade name 'SRMT Sekar' — the ECI rolls list both names.
About Tiruchengodu
Tiruchengodu — AC 96 — sits in southern Namakkal district, named for the Tiruchengode hill that holds the Arulmigu Ardhanareeswarar Temple — one of South India's rare shrines where the deity is worshipped as the bronze Ardhanari, half-Shiva and half-Parvati fused into one body. The seat has existed since well before the 2008 delimitation; T. M. Selvaganapathy (AIADMK) won it by a 78,659-vote landslide in 1991. Tiruchengodu has produced the closest finishes in TN — 116 votes in 2006, 1,920 in 2016, 2,862 in 2021 — making the 28,172-vote 2026 sweep a genuine break from pattern.
Tiruchengodu & the Ardhanareeswarar Hill
Tiruchengodu's defining landmark is the 1,200-foot hill on the town's edge — climb the 1,206-step path to the Ardhanareeswarar Temple, where the granite vimana and the rare Ardhanari bronze (half-Shiva, half-Parvati in a single body) draw pilgrims year-round. Drive 20 km north to Namakkal for the Anjaneyar rock-cut shrine and the poultry-belt jaggery markets, then west to the Cauvery's bend at Bhavani for the Sangameswarar's three-river meeting.
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