In a nail-biting conclusion to the Tamil Nadu assembly election, the Tirupattur constituency in Sivaganga district witnessed an unprecedented result as TVK candidate R Seenivasa Sethupathy defeated DMK minister K R Periyakaruppan by a single vote. The final count showed Sethupathy securing 83,375 votes, while Periyakaruppan polled 83,374 votes.
Counting Marathon
The counting process, which extended into the early hours of the morning, saw a fierce battle between the DMK and TVK from the outset. Initially, Periyakaruppan took an early lead with 3,801 votes against Sethupathy's 2,899, establishing a margin of 902 votes. This upward trend for Periyakaruppan continued through the first 16 rounds, with intermittent fluctuations for both candidates.
However, from round 17 onward, Sethupathy began to gain ground, with the margin fluctuating between 20 and 1,500 votes. His momentum persisted through the final round, round 30, where he led with 819 votes when the counting of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) concluded. At that stage, Sethupathy had secured 83,010 votes, while Periyakaruppan had 82,191 votes.
Postal Ballots Seal the Fate
The inclusion of postal ballots dramatically altered the outcome. Periyakaruppan received 1,183 postal ballots, while Sethupathy received 365. This brought the final totals to 83,374 for Periyakaruppan and 83,375 for Sethupathy, handing the latter a razor-thin victory by just one vote.
Delay in Declaration
District Election Officer and Collector K Porkodi explained the reasons for the prolonged delay in declaring the results. She told TOI that mock polls for two EVMs were not cleared, and the control unit of one EVM was not functioning properly, necessitating a count from Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. Additionally, given the margin of a single vote, the Election Commission of India (ECI) guidelines required a re-verification of the 306 rejected postal ballots.
When counting agents raised objections, Porkodi intervened to ease tensions. “I clearly explained to the political parties the rules and regulations mandated by ECI, and they agreed to go through the process,” she said.
After re-verification, no valid votes were found among the rejected ballots, confirming the one-vote margin. “In this situation, candidates have the right to ask for a recount, but the decision should be made by the returning officer. However, in Tirupattur, the returning officer decided not to recount, and he clearly explained the reason with a written explanation,” she added.
