Ashok Anand has returned to the Thattanchavady Assembly seat after a seven-year gap, winning Friday’s bypoll for the ruling All India NR Congress by 8,482 votes. Congress finished second as Anand reclaimed a constituency he previously won in both 2011 and 2016. The constituency was vacated by Chief Minister N Rangasamy after he won two seats in April’s election.
As per the result, Anand secured 13,358 votes against 4,876 polled by Congress candidate E Vinayagam. The DMK’s K Sethu Selvam finished third with 2,664 votes after four rounds of counting. Congress gathered to celebrate after the result was announced, waving party flags and shouting slogans in support of Anand and Rangasamy.
The DMK’s Sethu Selvam finished a distant third. Supporters of the N.R.
He first won the constituency on a Congress ticket in 1991 and retained it in 1996, 2001 and 2006. After launching the All India NR Congress in 2011, Rangasamy continued his association with the constituency, winning it again in 2021 and in the April 2026 Assembly election. The Election Commission scheduled the bypoll for October 6, giving the ruling party an opportunity to retain the constituency through another candidate. He had won Thattanchavady in the 2011 and 2016 Assembly elections before his earlier tenure ended following his disqualification in 2018.
For Anand, the victory marks a return to the Puducherry Assembly from a constituency he represented for two consecutive terms. For the NR Congress, it means retaining the seat vacated by its party chief just months after the ruling alliance returned to power. Thattanchavady has been closely associated with Rangasamy’s political career for more than three decades. Anand was a familiar choice for the party. The former MLA’s return to electoral politics has now taken him back to the same constituency.
