DMK Leader KR Periakaruppan Loses To TVK By A Margin Of One Vote In Tiruppattur

Every single vote counts. The statement gets reaffirmed as KR Periakaruppan, senior Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former State Minister for Co-operatives lost the Tiruppattur seat with a slim margin of just one vote in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections.

The results were declared late on Monday, 4 May, as counting were going on for over 30 poll booths in the Tiruppattur constituency. Election Commission of India (ECI) data showed that Seenivasa Sethupathy R of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) secured the seat with 83,375 votes, whereas Periakaruppan finished with 83,374 votes. In the second last round Periakaruppan was leading by 30 votes before the final tally took a turn in favour of the TVK candidate.

The result marks the rise of actor Vijay’s TVK, which appeared as the single largest party with 108 seats. This became a historic debut which shattered the traditional bipolar politics of Tamil Nadu. BJP’s KC Thirumaran stood at the third position with a significant margin by gaining 29,054 votes. Meanwhile, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate and former Minister K P Munusamy lost to DMK’s P S Srinivasan by a narrow margin of 138 votes in the Veppanahalli assembly segment.

DMK won 74 seats in the Assembly elections becoming the opposition party in the State Assembly. It contested in 164 seats while its alliance partners in the remaining 70 seats.

The result in Tiruppattur remains one of the closest in India's electoral history, emphasising that one vote can decide the difference of winning and losing.