In a see-saw contest that went down to the final (30th) round of counting on Monday night, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate R Seenivasa Sethupathy edged past DMK Minister KR Periyakaruppan by a single vote in Tiruppattur.
Out of 2,15,710 votes polled, Sethupathy secured 83,375 votes, while Periyakaruppan finished just behind with 83,374. BJP candidate KC Thirumaran was a distant third with 29,054 votes.
The second narrowest margin was recorded in Kanyakumari, where AIADMK candidate and former minister M Thalavai Sundaram defeated DMK’s R. Mahesh by 214 votes. In Tirukkoyilur, AIADMK’s S Palanisamy won against Vijay R Baranibalaaji by 285 votes.
Hung Assembly
With results declared for all the 234 constituencies last night, TVK emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats—eight short of the majority mark, thus resulting in a hung House.
When asked about the possibility of a hung Assembly, TVK’s party’s campaign secretary and Villivakkam MLA Aadhav Arjuna on Monday evening asserted that the party would form the government on its own, dismissing concerns over the numbers. However, the final tally leaves the party dependent on outside support.
Among the possible options to form the government, the TVK could explore support from the National Democratic Alliance led by the AIADMK. Alternatively, it may reach out to parties aligned with the DMK, including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML, sources said.
Party positions
The DMK finished a distant second with 59 seats. The party is likely to project Udhayanidhi Stalin, who won from Chepauk-Thiruvallikkeni, as the Leader of the Opposition.
The AIADMK secured 47 seats to finish third.
Among other parties, the Congress won five seats, the Pattali Makkal Katchi secured four, the Indian Union Muslim League, CPI, VCK and CPI(M) won two seats each.
The BJP, DMDK and AMMK won one seat apiece.
Vote share
In terms of vote share, TVK led with 34.92 per cent, followed by the DMK at 24.19 per cent and the AIADMK at 21.21 per cent.
Naam Tamilar Katchi secured 4 per cent of the vote, Congress 3.37 per cent, and the BJP 2.97 per cent, according to Election Commission of India data.-
Published on May 5, 2026