With Congress and CPI entering bypoll fray, Thattanchavady constituency is looking at a multi-cornered contest

DMK candidate K. Sethu Selvam for Thattanchavady bypoll, in Puducherry.
| Photo Credit:
KUMAR SS

AINRC candidate Ashok Anand for Thattanchavady bypoll in Puducherry.
| Photo Credit:
KUMAR SS

With Congress announcing the candidature of E. Vinayagam and the Communist Party of India deciding to field its party secretary A. M. Saleem for the October 6 bypoll in Thattanchavady Assembly constituency, the byelection contest is becoming increasingly multi-cornered in Puducherry.

Shortly after a Congress delegation led by Member of Parliament and chief of Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee V. Vaithilingam met Tamil Nadu Minister for Water Resources and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam general secretary N. Anand in Chennai on Tuesday seeking TVK support for Congress, the All India Congress Committee declared the candidature of Mr. Vinayagam, who had only a few days ago joined the Congress party.

Contesting against Chief Minister and AINRC founder N. Rangasamy in the April 2026 polls from Thattanchavady as the candidate of Neyam Makkal Kazhagam, a regional outfit which fought the Assembly elections as an ally of TVK in Puducherry, Mr. Vinayagam had come second by garnering 5,583 votes.

The bypoll became a necessity as Chief Minister decided to vacate Thattanchavady after retaining the second seat of Mangalam constituency which he won in the April polls. 

Meanwhile, the CPI which had last week sought TVK’s support for the Thattanchavady bypoll has decided to enter the fray irrespective of the stand taken by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s party for the byelection in Puducherry. The CPI has declared that Mr. Saleem would file his nomination papers on Wednesday regardless of TVK’s decision on the Thattanchavady bypoll. The Congress and the CPI are supporting the TVK government in Tamil Nadu.

Soon after the bypoll schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India, the ruling AINRC had declared that former legislator Ashok Anand would contest from Thattanchavady. The DMK has roped in former CPI leader Sethu Selvam as party candidate for the bypoll.

Mr. Selvam had contested twice from Thattanchavady in the past. As the CPI candidate in 2021 Assembly polls, Mr. Selvam had stood second there fighting against Mr. Rangasamy. Following his expulsion from CPI in 2025 over allegations of financial impropriety, Mr. Selvam contested as an Independent from Thattanchavady during the April 2026 polls. He came third by garnering around 17% of the votes pushing Mr. Vaithilingam to the fourth place.

Rangasamy holds strategy meeting

As the political developments in the Opposition camp started gathering pace, Mr. Rangasamy on Tuesday convened a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance to finalise a strategy for the bypoll. Besides the BJP and the AIADMK leaders, ruling party Ministers and legislators attended the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Minister called upon the Ministers and legislators to work for ensuring the victory of Ashok Anand with a margin bigger than what he achieved in the Assembly elections.

Filing of nominations 

A release from the Election Department said two candidates filed their nominations on Tuesday. S. Karthikumari filed her nomination papers as Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate and S. Vasanth as an Independent candidate.

As per the schedule announced by the ECI, the last day of filing nomination papers is September 16 (Wednesday). The candidates of AINRC, Congress, DMK and CPI will file their nominations on the last day, party sources said.