Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | Key battles to watch out for: Palanivel Thiaga Rajan eyes a hat-trick in Madurai (Central)

Madurai (Central) is a culturally significant constituency in the historic city as the world-famous Meenakshi Amman Temple falls under its jurisdiction.

The constituency, which has been in existence since 1957, has elected MLAs from different political parties, including the DMK and AIADMK, Congress, and TMC.

Since 2016, the constituency is being represented by Dr P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan of the DMK – in 2021, he won by a margin of 34,176 votes.

Key candidates

DMK: Dr P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan is one of the most articulate in the DMK and its face on national English news channels. A former top banker who had worked with Lehman Brothers and Standard Chartered, PTR plunged into politics in 2016 by following the footsteps of his father PTR Palanivel Rajan, who was the Speaker of the Assembly and a minister. He has the distinction of winning his seat without bribing voters. PTR was Finance Minister for the first two years of the DMK government and was transferred to Information Technology.

AIADMK: Sundar C is a popular Tamil cinema director known for his comedies, especially ones enacted by comedian Vadivelu. He is also the husband of popular actor Khushbu Sundar, now with the BJP. Sundar has been fielded by the New Justice Party (NJP) on the AIADMK’s Two Leaves symbol.

TVK: V M S Mustafa, who is the founder-president of Tamil Nadu Muslim League Party, has been one of the prominent faces on TV channels representing the TVK. Mustafa has been fielded by the TVK in this constituency with an eye on Muslim votes.