The main points of the elections until the 2026 elections: Elections for five seats in the council, one seat in the LS end with a high turnout; minor incidents reported

All lined up to vote in Tamil Nadu’s high-stakes election; TVK, DMK keep their fingers crossed

Preparations for the election exercise to be held today for the by-elections to Madurantakam and Dharapuram assembly constituencies are complete and Tamil Nadu voters are set to decide the fate of the nascent TVK regime, which depends on outside support for its survival.

Hectic campaigning by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, DMK president MK Stalin, Leader of Opposition Udhyanidhi Stalin and AIADMK supremo Edappadi K Palaniswami, who are not often seen during the by-elections, has only underlined the political significance as the results are quite crucial for both the ruling and opposition camps.

For the TVK, the poll result will decide whether it can strengthen its strength in the assembly or not, and for the DMK, which did not expect to lose the April assembly polls, the key will be to bounce back. Pushed to the third spot, the AIADMK strained every nerve to take back its space.

The polls face a tough five-cornered fight as the ruling TVK, the main opposition DMK, the key Dravidian party AIADMK, the Left Front and the Tamil nationalist TVK are in the fray.

– PTI