#Defections

21 AIADMK MLAs and the Speaker's Mercy: the Disqualification Fight Reaches the Supreme Court

After the Speaker dropped disqualification proceedings against 21 AIADMK MLAs who defied their party whip, Desiya Makkal Shakti leader M.L. Ravi has moved the Supreme Court, asking how Tamil Nadu's ruling majority was really built.

4 October 2026 · 2 min read

Inked fingers of voters after casting their ballots

Opinion

Resign, defect, recontest: the bypoll is not democracy, it is a purchase order

Two MLAs won in April, quit within a month, joined the ruling TVK and are now asking the same voters for the same seats. Madurantakam and Dharapuram are not choosing representatives — they are being asked to rubber-stamp a transaction.

3 October 2026 · 2 min read

Fort St. George, seat of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Two of its seats fell vacant within five weeks of the April election.

Opinion

Resign, switch, recontest: the loophole voters are paying for

The Madurantakam and Dharapuram byelections were caused by two MLAs who resigned and changed parties a month after being elected. The Tenth Schedule cannot stop this. Parliament should.

1 October 2026 · 2 min read

The control unit of an electronic voting machine. Polling in Madurantakam and Dharapuram is on October 6; votes will be counted on October 9.

Politics

Two reserved seats, five parties: what is at stake in the Madurantakam and Dharapuram bypolls

Both seats fell vacant when AIADMK MLAs elected in April resigned and joined the ruling TVK on the same day. On October 6 they seek re-election on the TVK ticket against the DMK, the AIADMK, the NTK and the Left.

1 October 2026 · 3 min read