Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 24 (ANI): The Madras High Court extended its interim stay on notifying bypolls in five Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies till September 8, after the Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the court that it would not announce the elections until pending election petitions concerning the seats are decided.
Of the five, one of the assembly constituencies (Trichy East) for which the Madras High Court has extended the stay is the constituency where Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay won. Vijay won the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from two constituencies--Perambur and Trichy East. He retained the Perambur seat and vacated the Trichy East seat.
The five constituencies are Trichy East, Viralimalai, Perundurai, Ambasamudram and Karur. The stay remains in place as election petitions challenging the victories in these constituencies are pending before the court.
According to the submissions made before the Madras HC, the ECI said it had no plans to notify the bypolls until the pending election cases were disposed of. However, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government's side opposed the submission and sought an early hearing of the matter, besides requesting that the interim stay be vacated.
The court rejected the plea to lift the stay and extended the interim order till September 8.
The development comes amid continuing legal challenges to the results of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Earlier on Monday, DMK president and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin filed an election petition in the Madras High Court challenging the victory of TVK candidate VS Babu from the Kolathur Assembly constituency.
Stalin's petition has alleged malfunctioning of electronic voting machines and irregularities involving VVPAT machines. He has sought a recount of votes and requested the court to declare Babu's election void and recognise him as the winner.
Stalin, a three-time MLA from Kolathur, lost the constituency to Babu in the 2026 Assembly elections by 8,795 votes. The result ended his bid to retain the seat for a fourth consecutive term.
Following his victory, Babu attributed the result to TVK chief Vijay and his local connect, while saying that voters wanted a change in Tamil Nadu.
"I have won only with our leader. Our leader's face is the face of Tamil Nadu. People wanted a change, and they have changed this," Babu had told ANI.
He also said that being born and brought up in Kolathur helped him understand the constituency and its voters. (ANI)
Madras HC extends stay on five Tamil Nadu assembly bypolls till September 8
