CHENNAI: Madurai Central emerged as one of the most striking upsets of the election, defying expectations built around high-profile contenders. In a contest featuring former finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and filmmaker-turned-politician Sundar C, it was an unlikely challenger who stole the show on counting day.
S Madhar Badhurudeen, a meat shop owner with little presence in mainstream political discourse, secured a decisive victory, mirroring a broader trend in which relatively unknown faces, buoyed by Vijay’s popularity, eclipsed established names. He won by a margin of 19,128 votes.
The result was far from isolated. Across constituencies, several former ministers and seasoned politicians were unseated by candidates from modest backgrounds, including an auto driver, homemakers, disabled person and a photographer, signalling a shift in voter preference.
In Avanashi (SC), homemaker S Kamali defeated Union Minister L Murugan. In Ranipet, homemaker Thahira defeated four-time MLA and minister R Gandhi, reinforcing the trend. In Chennai, grassroots contenders made a mark. Auto driver K V Vijay Damu defeated AIADMK veteran D Jayakumar by 14,249 votes.
R Sabarinathan, the son of Vijay’s driver, defeated DMK’s A M V Prabhakara Raja by 27,086 votes. In TVK Nagar, M R Pallavi defeated DMK’s K S Ravichandran by over 22,000 votes.
In Uthiramerur, J Munirathinam, a candidate with disability, defeated DMK’s K Sundar. In Manamadurai, photographer D Elangovan defeated DMK’s A Tamilarasi.
In Poonamallee, TVK’s R Prakasam, a social worker with no declared annual income, registered a landslide victory over DMK heavyweight and former MLA-MP A Krishnaswamy, winning by a margin of 72,740 votes.
Adding further weight to this trend is Ramesh, a former software professional, who went on to defeat DMK’s S Durairaj by 33,590 votes. A TVK candidate who gave a DMK leader tough fight despite losing was farmer-activist Arul Arumugam, who lost but slashed E V Velu’s margin in Tiruvannamalai from around 96,000 votes to just 2,455.