K.A. Sengothayan quit the AIADMK and contested the elections as a TBC candidate this year. File | Photo credit: Hindu
The Madras High Court on Tuesday (September 15, 2026) dismissed an election petition filed against the victory of Revenue and Disaster Management Minister and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) leader K A Sengottaiyan from the Gobichettipalayam Assembly constituency this year.
Judge G.K. Ilanthirayan allowed the minister’s plea to reject the election petition filed by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate V.B. Prabhu, who came third in the polls and lost the election by a margin of 26,280 votes.
Mr. Sengothayan quit the AIADMK and contested the elections as a TBC candidate this year. He polled 82,612 votes against his nearest rival, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate N Nallasivam, who could secure only 65,992 votes. Mr. Prabhu received 56,232 votes.
Although the third-place winner challenged the minister’s victory on several grounds, the judge accepted the returning candidate’s argument that sufficient material was not presented to the court to warrant a full trial and that the plaintiff deserved to be dismissed at the threshold.
Following the Legislative Assembly elections this year in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, an unusually high number of 54 election petitions were filed in the High Court challenging the victory of elected representatives under various provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
High Court Judge D. Bharatha Chakravarthy on August 18, 2026 dismissed the election petition challenging the victory of TVK MLA N. Elaliyaraaja from Uthangarai constituency. K. Geetha, whose candidature was rejected, filed an election petition.
The judge found that the petitioner’s candidature was rejected because her name was not included in the electoral rolls and that the petition filed by her to restore her name to the electoral rolls and accept her candidature was rejected by the Division Bench of the High Court on 7 April 2026.
Finding that the petitioner had neglected her rights and failed to take steps to have her name included in the electoral rolls within the time limit prescribed by the Election Commission of India, the judge also held that her petition did not disclose any cause of action to challenge the MLA’s victory.
Thereafter, on September 8, 2026, Justice Chakravarthy dismissed another election petition filed by Thoppu Venkatachalam alias N.D. Venkatachalam, who contested as a DMK candidate but quit the party after the elections, contesting the victory of S. Jayakumar from Perundurai constituency.
Mr. Jayakumar won the seat by a margin of 9,393 votes as the AIADMK candidate. He polled 70,302 votes against the 60,609 votes received by the petitioner in the election, but submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, J. K. D. Prabhakar, on May 25, 2026, before joining TVK.
Published – September 15, 2026 11:37 AM EST.