Overview
- Polling opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, October 6 in Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu and Thattanchavady in Puducherry and will run until 6 p.m., with all three results due when votes are counted on October 9.
- Early turnout by 9 a.m. showed 15.99% in Madurantakam, 17.55% in Dharapuram and about 19.2% in Thattanchavady, where roughly 27,000 voters are registered.
- The two Tamil Nadu seats have multi‑cornered contests with 27 candidates in Madurantakam and 22 in Dharapuram, while Thattanchavady has 11 candidates including five independents.
- Poll authorities deployed large security and logistics operations, including the movement of EVMs and VVPATs under armed escort, about 2,614 police and 480 Central Armed Police Force personnel in Madurantakam and roughly 1,000 police in Dharapuram.
- These bypolls are significant because the Tamil Nadu vacancies followed resignations by AIADMK MLAs who joined TVK, so the outcomes will indicate short‑term voter response to the defections and local party organization in reserved constituencies.