Why Tamil Nadu Assembly seat vacated by CM Vijay still awaits a bypoll

While bypolls were held in two Tamil Nadu constituencies on October 6, and counting is underway, the seat vacated by CM C Joseph Vijay was left out of the electoral exercise. The reason is a Madras High Court-imposed restraint on by-elections in five constituencies (including Tiruchirappalli East) amid pending petitions challenging the original poll results.

In Short

• Madras High Court ordered a stay on by-elections notifications for 5 disputed Assembly seats
• CM C Joseph Vijaiy's Tiruchirappalli East seat is also one, which was vacated after May victory
• Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls are underway as their vacancies not legally contested

As counting for the by-elections in two Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies is underway on Friday, the Tiruchirappalli East seat vacated by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay remains in a legal limbo. A Madras High Court order has stalled bypolls in five Assembly constituencies, turning what would ordinarily have been a routine electoral exercise into a legal battle over when voters can return to the ballot box. The bypolls for the two seats were held on October 6.

C Joseph Vijay resigned from Tiruchirappalli East after winning two constituencies in Tamil Nadu's April 2026 election. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief had also won Perambur and chose to retain that seat, leaving Tiruchirappalli East without an elected representative.

But nearly five months after the Assembly election results were declared on May 4, the constituency is still waiting for a by-election. The reason is a legal dispute that has prevented the Election Commission of India (ECI) from announcing fresh polls in five constituencies, including the one Vijay vacated.

Click here to track live updates | Tamil Nadu's Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly seats by-election results

The legal challenge is linked to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by K Venkatachalapathy, a resident of Tirunelveli, seeking to restrain the ECI from notifying by-elections while the election petitions were pending. The High Court had granted an interim stay after considering the possibility of complications if the original election disputes resulted in a different candidate being declared elected.

A case was filed after Vijay was declared the winner from Tiruchirappalli East. There are such legal disputes in four other seats.

However, bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats took place on October 6. Both constituencies had fallen vacant after AIADMK legislators Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabama resigned to join the ruling TVK. But, Tiruchirappalli East, along with Karur, Viralimalai, Perundurai and Ambasamudram, remained outside the election schedule.

Along with the two Tamil Nadu seats, bypolls were also held in West Bengal's Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies and Puducherry's Thattanchavady seat. Counting is also underway in Assam's Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency.

HOW A ROUTINE VACANCY BECAME A LEGAL DISPUTE IN TAMIL NADU

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 of the Constitution, a person elected from two constituencies cannot retain both seats. Vijay therefore had to relinquish one of his victories after winning Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East. His resignation from Tiruchirappalli East was accepted in May, formally creating the vacancy.

Ordinarily, the ECI would initiate the process of holding a by-election to fill the vacant seat, subject to the applicable legal requirements and timelines. However, an election petition concerning the original result complicated that process.

DMK candidate Inigo S Irudayaraj, who contested against Vijay in Tiruchirappalli East, is among those challenging the election outcome. Other seats stuck in the limbo are Karur, Viralimalai, Perundurai and Ambasamudram. In July, the Madras High Court restrained the ECI from notifying by-elections for these five constituencies while the cases remained pending. The interim restriction was subsequently extended, keeping the constituencies outside the October 6 polling schedule.

The central concern is what happens if a court hearing an election petition ultimately invalidates the original election result or declares a rival candidate elected. Holding another election before resolving that challenge could create competing claims to the same seat and raise questions about the validity of the subsequent electoral exercise.

The ECI informed the High Court that it would not notify by-elections to the five constituencies until the pending petitions were disposed of.

VIJAY AND TVK ARE DEMANDING THE COURT STAY TO BE LIFTED

For Vijay's TVK, the delay concerns the representation of voters in a constituency that helped propel the actor-turned-politician into electoral prominence.

On September 29, TVK urged the Madras High Court to lift the interim restriction on announcing by-elections in the five constituencies. The party argued that proceedings initiated by a person who neither contested nor voted in any of the affected constituencies should not prevent the ECI from conducting the polls.

Senior advocate G Masilamani, appearing for Vijay, questioned whether legal principles drawn from earlier Supreme Court judgments could automatically be applied to the present circumstances. He pointed to the scale of the 2026 election, in which 4,023 candidates contested across 234 constituencies, and argued that the circumstances of multi-candidate contests needed to be considered.

The TVK wants the court to reconsider whether a blanket restriction on all five constituencies is justified.

For now, Tiruchirappalli East will have to stay without an elected representative, even as voters in two other Tamil Nadu constituencies have already cast their ballots in the bypolls. Whether the seat vacated by Vijay goes to the polls anytime soon will depend on the Madras High Court's decision on the interim stay.

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(Written by Avinash Kateel)