Karunanithi.K of DMK won the Kovilpatti Assembly constituency (Thoothukkudi district, Deep South) in the Tamil Nadu 2026 election, taking 31.74% of 194,232 votes cast. The winning margin over Balasubramanian.S (TVK) was 843 votes, or 0.43 percentage points. The seat flipped from ADMK to DMK since 2021.

DMK
Winning party
31.74%
Winner vote share
843
Margin (0.43%)
ADMK → DMK
2021 → 2026 winner

Full candidate results, Kovilpatti 2026

#CandidatePartyVotesVote %
1Karunanithi.K WinnerDMK61,643
2Balasubramanian.S 2ndTVK60,800
3Kadambur Raju.CADMK53,014
4Pandi.PNTK11,919
5Athikumar Kudumbar.BIND2,992
6NotaNOTA593
7Kannan.SAll India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnettra Kazhagam446
8Poundurai.KIND398
9Premkumar.KIND378
10Pandimuneeswari.KIND367
11Saravanan.SThamizh Perarasu Katchi356
12Paramasivan.SIND275
13Ramachandran.RBahujan Samaj Party194
14Sekar.CIND177
15Hari Balakrishnan.GPuthiya Makkal Tamil Desam Katchi139
16Gurusamy.KIND104
17Chinna Maharaja.KIND94
18Renganayagalu.SIND90
19Ponnusamy.MIND77
20Muneeswaran.RIND69
21Gunasekaran.PIND55
22Arumugavel.TNaam Indiar Party52

How Kovilpatti compares to 2021

YearWinning candidatePartyVote share
2021KADAMBUR RAJUADMK37.89%
2026KARUNANITHI.KDMK31.74%

The seat changed hands, a swing of -6.15 percentage points in the winning vote share.

This page is part of the full Tamil Nadu 2026 election results set. Explore every seat, party efficiency, regional swing and demographics in the TN 2026 Explorer. For the wider story, see TVK’s debut mapped, the incumbents who lost, and how DMK collapsed.