KRISHNAGIRI: A poor show on the ground, coupled with rifts within the party, has pushed the DMK to the third spot in Hosur, were AIADMK emerged successful.
Hosur constituency was won by AIADMK candidate P Balakrishna Reddy by a margin of 27, 803 votes, defeating TVK’s S Vendarkarsan. DMK candidate SA Sathya placed third.
In 2016, DMK West district secretary Y Prakash, a native of Belakondapalli village near Thalli contested in Thalli constituency. In 2021, Prakash shifted to Hosur since Thalli Assembly ticket was given to CPI candidate T Ramachandran.
Meanwhile, in 2016, Balakrishna Reddy won against the Congress candidate in Hosur Assembly constituency and became the minister. In 2019, Reddy was disqualified after a special court for MP/MLA cases convicted him in a rioting case.
However, he was acquitted by the Madras High Court in 2024. In this case, in 2019, DMK candidate SA Sathya won against Balakrishna Reddy's wife S Jyothi Reddy.
In 2021, Hosur ticket was given to DMK’s Y Prakash, who won against Jyothi Reddy. Sathya then became mayor, after his brief stint as Hosur MLA.
Soon, rifts emerged between Prakash and Sathya, a native of Kerala who settled in Hosur. Sathya, who was initially with the AIADMK, later joined the DMK which was not accepted by the Prakash faction.
In 2026, Prakash was denied a ticket from Hosur despite having the support of a few DMK high command leaders, and it was instead given to Sathya.
A DMK cadre who worked for Sathya told TNIE, "After a ticket was announced for Sathya, some members of Prakash’s faction indirectly began supporting Balakrishna Reddy. There are other issues near Bagalur such as the alleged land acquisition for the Greenfield airport and a knowledge corridor.
These issues had raised public and farmers’ anger against the DMK. Adding to this, Prakash who belongs to the Gowda community, urged members of his community not to vote for Sathya."
Three assembly constituencies — Thalli, Hosur and Veppanahalli — falls under Prakash, of which CPI won in Thalli and DMK in Veppanahalli.