As quickly as the Indian Election Commission announced by-elections for the two constituencies of Madurantakam and Dharapuram, TVK, DMK, and AIADMK have also announced their candidates. The fact that all three parties have fielded outsiders for the Madurantakam constituency has become a talking point!
On behalf of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, Maragatham Kumaravel is contesting the Madurantakam by-election. She is from Thaiyur in the Tiruporur constituency. In the 2026 Assembly election, she cast her vote at a polling booth in Thaiyur. Likewise, DMK candidate Paranthaman lives in Chennai’s Egmore constituency. A former MLA of the Egmore constituency, he has been voting in Egmore. AIADMK candidate Kanitha Sampath contested in the Cheyyur constituency in 2021 and lost. She has been voting in the Cheyyur constituency. Therefore, none of the three candidates are from Madurantakam or live there. Since TVK is under pressure to field Maragatham Kumaravel, they have not considered alternative candidates either.
We spoke to DMK and AIADMK functionaries about this. "Since 2001, only leaders from outside the area have won there. Because of that, no major local figures have emerged in that constituency. Also, since candidates from the Scheduled Castes are not given a chance more than once, the same person cannot keep contesting in the Madurantakam constituency again and again. After the death of Madurantakathar, Madurantakam Arumugam, in 2005, no major leaders have emerged. That is why they are fielding only people from other constituencies," they said.
Political observers who spoke to us said, "Generally, there is a belief that if one person wins in a reserved constituency, he will come to dominate that constituency. Because of this, even other caste members within the DMK sometimes do not vote for the DMK candidate contesting in a reserved constituency, and do not work for him either. There is also a tendency to push reserved constituencies to the alliance. Through the 2011 Assembly election, Madurantakam became a reserved constituency.
In the 2026 Assembly election, Amulu Ponmalar from Madurantakam was announced as the candidate. However, the party functionaries did not work with full cooperation for her victory. She missed winning by 10,000 votes. At the same time, if an outsider candidate is fielded, one cannot get local party responsibility.
For example, even if Paranthaman wins in Madurantakam, he cannot get the district secretary post. Madurantakam Aarumugam, who was alive until 2005, had been a dominant figure in both the DMK and the MDMK. After that, the reason can be understood from the fact that no influential leaders emerged in the Madurantakam constituency," they said.