Tiruchirappalli (east)

Madras High Court has extended its temporary hold on by-elections for five Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies. A final hearing is set for September 28. This affects Tiruchirappalli East, Karur, Viralimalai, Perundurai, and Ambasamudram.

Reason for the delay

These seats became empty after Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay resigned from one of the two seats he won. Also, four other MLAs left their parties to join Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. K Venkatachalapathy filed a case, which led the court to pause the process until the election petitions are resolved.

Election Commission of India is going ahead with by-elections for Maduranthakam and Dharapuram. Voting for these two seats happens on October 6, and results will be announced on October 9.

Legal cases are holding up the election process for five Tamil Nadu assembly seats. Madras High Court is looking into petitions against the results of the April assembly elections. Because of this, Election Commission has paused by-elections for Tiruchi East, Karur, Viralimalai, Perundurai, and Ambasamudram.

Status of pending by-elections

Election Commission is moving ahead with bypolls for Madurantakam and Dharapuram on October 6. The other five seats remain on hold. Election Commission confirmed it will not announce these elections until the court cases finish. This is a difficult situation for local voters waiting for official representation.

Chief Minister Joseph Vijay has asked Madras High Court to deny a request to stop upcoming bye-elections in five assembly seats. He believes the public interest case trying to pause these votes has hidden goals and only aims to stop the democratic process.

Chief Minister explained that delaying election notices breaks the basic voting rights of citizens. By holding up these polls, thousands of people in areas like Tiruchirappalli East do not have a representative in the state assembly. The legal case goes on while the government pushes to continue the election without any more problems.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay asked Madras High Court to dismiss an election petition against his win in Tiruchirappalli East. DMK candidate Inigo Irudayaraj filed the petition. He claims Vijay did not list pending court cases and used children in his campaign.

Legal argument for dismissal

In his response, Vijay argued the petitioner did not provide facts showing these actions changed the election result. He noted that claiming voters were emotionally swayed is not a valid legal reason to cancel a result. Justice V Lakshminarayanan will hear the case on August 31.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay has challenged an election petition filed against his win in the Tiruchirappalli East constituency. The person who filed it, Inigo Irudayaraj, claims that using children during the campaign and hiding information should make the results invalid.

In his response, the Chief Minister argued that saying voters were emotionally swayed is not enough to cancel an election. He noted that the petitioner failed to provide facts showing how these actions actually changed the final vote count.

Upcoming Court Hearing

Justice V Lakshminarayanan will hear the application to reject this petition on August 31st. The Chief Minister says that mentioning laws without solid evidence does not create a valid case under the Representation of the People Act. He has asked the court to dismiss the challenge.

Election Commission of India officials have confirmed they will not hold by-elections for five assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. The decision affects Tiruchi East, Perundurai, Ambasamudram, Viralimalai, and Karur.

Election status

Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik told the Madras High Court that these polls are on hold. They will stay that way until pending election petitions are finished. This legal delay follows concerns about candidates who want to be declared winners under Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act. The court has extended an order stopping the Election Commission from announcing these elections until September 8, 2026.