Maduranthakam and Dharapuram MLAs take oath of office

Sathiyabama and Maragatham Kumaravel, who won the by-elections in Dharapuram and Madhuranthakam, respectively, were sworn in as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in the Speaker’s chamber at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai on October 12, 2026.

The oath-taking ceremony took place in the presence of the Assembly Speaker. Ministers Anand, Sengottaiyan, Aadhav and Arunraj were also present.

In the by-elections, Maragatham Kumaravel secured 74,048 votes in Madhuranthakam, while Sathiyabama received 66,841 votes in Dharapuram.

Both candidates had previously won their constituencies in the general election as AIADMK candidates. They later resigned from their MLA posts, left the AIADMK and joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). They subsequently contested and won the by-elections.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Strength After the By-Elections

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has 234 seats. Following the resignations of MLAs from seven constituencies—Madhuranthakam, Dharapuram, Perundurai, Tiruchirappalli East, Ambasamudram, Karur and Viralimalai—the Assembly had 227 sitting MLAs.

Before the latest oath-taking ceremony, TVK had 107 MLAs, including the Speaker. With the victories in Madhuranthakam and Dharapuram, the party`s strength has increased to 109 MLAs.

The reported party-wise strength in the Assembly is as follows:

TVK: 109 MLAs

DMK: 59 MLAs

AIADMK: 41 MLAs

Congress: 5 MLAs

PMK: 4 MLAs

CPI, CPM, IUML and VCK: 2 MLAs each

BJP, DMDK and AMMK: 1 MLA each

The by-election victories and the subsequent oath-taking of the two MLAs have increased TVK`s representation in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.