As vote counting for the Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2026 entered its decisive phase on Monday, the first confirmed results began trickling in, with the Congress and its ally DMK opening their accounts early.
While the broader battle between Thalapathy Vijay's TVK and AIADMK continues to play out across the state, these early results offer the first concrete picture of who has crossed the finish line.
The Indian National Congress drew first blood for the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu, with P. Viswanathan winning the Melur constituency (188) with a total of 60,080 votes. Viswanathan secured victory by a margin of 2,724 votes, with all 21 rounds of counting completed — making it one of the first fully declared results of the day. The win, though relatively narrow, hands Congress a crucial seat in the Madurai belt and signals that the alliance's ground-level campaign has delivered in at least some pockets.
The DMK, meanwhile, announced victories in two constituencies — both in the Nilgiris region — with commanding margins. In Gudalur (109), DMK's Dhravidamani M. romped home with 65,590 votes, winning by a massive margin of 22,833 votes after all 18 rounds of counting were completed, making it one of the most decisive wins of the early results. In the neighbouring Coonoor constituency (110), DMK's M. Raju secured victory with 50,470 votes and a margin of 8,099 votes, also after the completion of all 18 rounds — a comfortable win in a traditionally competitive seat.
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Together, these three confirmed victories mark the Congress-DMK alliance's first entries on the scoreboard in Tamil Nadu 2026. The results from Gudalur and Coonoor, both in the Nilgiris district, suggest strong alliance consolidation in the hill districts, where tribal and plantation worker communities form a significant voter base.
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Tamil Nadu has 234 assembly constituencies, with the majority mark set at 118. The main contest this time is between TVK, DMK, AIADMK and their respective allies, with results from the rest of the state expected to pour in through the afternoon and evening.
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