MADURAI: While the two Dravidian majors DMK and AIADMK won in five assembly constituencies each out of the total 10 constituencies in Madurai district in the 2021 assembly election, actor Vijay’s TVK which is facing its maiden election has made its inroads into many constituencies in the district, including Madurai East and Madurai Central constituencies, where sitting ministers P Moorthy and Palanivel Thiaga Rajan are trailing in the second place.Congress candidate P Viswanathan was declared as winner in Melur constituency with 54,815 votes, while TVK candidate secured the second place with 52, 263 votes pushing incumbent AIADMK MLA P Periyapullan alias Selvam to the third place. TVK candidate MM Gopison was declared as the winner in Madurai South constituency 62,415 votes. He defeated incumbent MDMK MLA M Boominathan who secured 40,886 votes while BJP candidate Raama Sreenivasan was pushed to the third place with 31,100 votes. In Madurai East constituency, after Round 18, TVK candidate S Karthikeyan is leading with 70,389 votes, while sitting DMK minister P Moorthy is trailing with 63,716 votes. AIADMK candidate K Mahendran is in third place with 19,393 votes. In Madurai Central constituency, after Round 8, TVK candidate Madhar Madharudeen is leading with 31,370 votes, while sitting DMK minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan is trailing with 17,394 votes and Puthiya Neethi Katchi (AIADMK alliance) candidate Sundar C is in the third place with 16,441 votes. There is also a major setback to the AIADMK heavyweights and sitting MLAs – RB Udhayakumar, Sellur K Raju and VV Rajan Chellappa as they are in the third place in Thirumangalam, Madurai West and Thiruparakundram constituencies. In Thirumangalam constituency, after Round 16, DMK candidate M Manimaran is leading with 52,244 votes, while TVK candidate N Sathishkumar is trailing with 41,480 votes. Deputy leader of opposition and incumbent MLA RB Udhayakumar is in third place with 40,568 votes. In Madurai West constituency, after Round 12, TVK candidate SR Thangapandi is leading with 44,215 votes while DMK candidate R Balaji is trailing with 41,570 pushing the incumbent AIADMK MLA Sellur K Raju to the third place with 21,220 votes. Similarly, in Thiruparankundram constituency, after Round 11, TVK candidate CTR Nirmal Kumar is leading with 47,581 votes, while DMK candidate Kiruthiga Thangapandi is trailing with 33,574 votes. Incumbent AIADMK MLA VV Rajan Chellappa is in third place with 20,868 votes. In Madurai North constituency, after Round 12, TVK candidate A Kallanai is leading with 47,795 votes, while sitting MLA G Thalapathi is trailing with 32,644 votes. AIADMK candidate P Saravanan is in third place with 15,897 votes. In Usilampatti constituency, after Round 10, TVK candidate M Vijay is leading with 27,814 votes, while incumbent AIADMK MLA I Mahendran is trailing with 25,627 votes. Congress candidate R Saravanakumar is in third place with 23,078 votes. In Sholavandan constituency, after Round 7, incumbent MLA A Venkatesan is leading with 23,098 votes while TVK candidate MV Karuppiah is trailing with 22,998 votes. AIADMK candidate K Manickam is in third place with 17,681 votes. In the 2021 assembly election, DMK won in five constituencies – Madurai East, Sholavandan, Madurai North, Madurai South and Madurai Central. AIADMK won in five constituencies – Melur, Madurai West, Thirumangalam, Thiruparankundram and Usilampatti. With inputs from Ahamed Ali and Jaden Thomas
