Vandavasi
Vandavasi — DMK's Ambethkumar holds 1760 battlefield seat by 3,333 votes
DMK's S. Ambethkumar held Vandavasi — the Tiruvannamalai SC-reserved seat that takes its name from the 1760 Battle of Wandiwash — by just 3,333 votes over AIADMK's P. Rani. Ambethkumar had won the seat decisively in 2021 (35,953-vote margin) and 2016 (18,068); the 2026 result is more than ten times tighter, the constituency's narrowest finish since the 2008 delimitation. AIADMK's V. Gunaseelan held the seat in 2011 by 12,296 votes; DMK's S. P. Jayaraman won by 22,788 in 2006; PMK's K. Murugavelrajan took it in 2001. The Battle of Wandiwash, fought 22 January 1760, was the decisive engagement of the Third Carnatic War — Eyre Coote's British forces broke French power in southern India here, paving the way for British Madras.
Top 5 candidates
| # | Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMBETHKUMAR. S | DMK | 63,805 | 33.73% |
| 2 | RANI. P | AIADMK | 60,472 | 31.97% |
| 3 | UDHAYAKUMAR. M | TVK | 58,174 | 30.75% |
| 4 | GANESH. R | NTK | 5,495 | 2.90% |
| 5 | NOTA | NOTA | 988 | 0.52% |
Postal ballot breakdown
| # | Candidate | Party | Postal votes | EVM votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMBETHKUMAR. S | DMK | 794 | 63,011 | 63,805 |
| 2 | RANI. P | AIADMK | 630 | 59,842 | 60,472 |
| 3 | UDHAYAKUMAR. M | TVK | 364 | 57,810 | 58,174 |
| 4 | GANESH. R | NTK | 73 | 5,422 | 5,495 |
| 5 | AMBEDKAR. T | IND | 39 | 65 | 104 |
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.
Vandavasi is reserved for Scheduled Castes. S. Ambethkumar has now won the seat in three consecutive cycles — but the 2026 margin of 3,333 votes is a tenfold collapse from his 2021 cushion of 35,953. The 2026 contest excluded TVK's wave-effect from the result; AIADMK's P. Rani ran the AIADMK alliance close in a way the party hasn't managed here since 2011.
About Vandavasi
Vandavasi — AC 69, reserved for Scheduled Castes — sits in southern Tiruvannamalai district, named for the historic town where Eyre Coote's British East India Company forces defeated the French under Lally on 22 January 1760, in the decisive battle of the Third Carnatic War. The constituency has alternated DMK and AIADMK across the post-delimitation era, with PMK winning the older pre-delim seat in 2001. S. Ambethkumar (DMK) has now won the seat in three consecutive cycles — 2016, 2021 and 2026 — but the 2026 hold was a 3,333-vote nail-biter.
Vandavasi & the Battlefield Belt
Vandavasi is the town where French southern India ended — the 22 January 1760 battle on the plains east of town saw Eyre Coote's company sepoys break Lally's Pondicherry-based French army, paving the way for British Madras. Drive 70 km south-east to Pondicherry's old French quarter for the other side of that story, or 50 km north-east to Kanchipuram for the Ekambareswarar gopuram and the silk-loom lanes. The Tiruvannamalai Girivalam circuit lies 60 km west.
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