Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30
Tenkasi (Tamil Nadu) was won by Dhanush.M.Kumar (DMK) at the 2019 Lok Sabha general election, with a margin of 120,286 votes over Dr.Krishnasamy.K. This page covers every Lok Sabha general election in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, from 1971 to 2019.
Full Election History, 1971–2019
Election
Winner
Party
Votes
Vote Share
Runner-up
Margin
1971
A. M. Cnellachami
Indian National Congress
223,182
55.5%
R. S. Arumugam (Congress (O))
68,910 (17.1 pts)
1977
Arunachalam M.
Indian National Congress
305,069
69.2%
Rajagopalan S. (Congress (O))
186,876 (42.4 pts)
1980
Arunachalam M.
Congress (I)
272,260
62.4%
Rajagopalan S. (Janata Party)
108,316 (24.8 pts)
1984
M. Arunachalam
Indian National Congress
360,517
68.1%
R. Krishnan (CPI (Marxist))
191,567 (36.2 pts)
1989
M.Arunachalam
Indian National Congress
393,075
62.5%
R.Krishan (CPI (Marxist))
172,707 (27.5 pts)
1991
Arunachalam M.
Indian National Congress
381,721
63.6%
Sadhan Thirumalaikumar T. (DMK)
182,086 (30.3 pts)
1996
Arunachalam, M.
Trinamool Congress
290,663
45.0%
Selvaraj V. (Indian National Congress)
95,926 (14.8 pts)
1998
Murugesan,S.
AIADMK
270,053
41.8%
Arunachalam.M (Trinamool Congress)
97,267 (15.1 pts)
1999
Murugesan,S.
AIADMK
239,241
35.9%
Arumugam,S. (Bharatiya Janata Party)
887 (0.1 pts)
2004
Appadurai, M.
Communist Party of India
348,000
48.9%
Murugesan. S (AIADMK)
122,176 (17.2 pts)
2009
Lingam P
Communist Party of India
281,174
37.7%
Vellaipandi G (Indian National Congress)
34,677 (4.7 pts)
2014
Vasanthi.M
AIADMK
424,586
41.7%
Dr.Krishnasamy.K. (PT)
161,774 (15.9 pts)
2019
Dhanush.M.Kumar
DMK
476,156
45.3%
Dr.Krishnasamy.K (AIADMK)
120,286 (11.4 pts)
Full Result Breakdown by Election
1971
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
A. M. Cnellachami
Indian National Congress
223,182
55.5%
R. S. Arumugam
Congress (O)
154,272
38.3%
K. Subbiah
Independent
24,822
6.2%
1977
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Arunachalam M.
Indian National Congress
305,069
69.2%
Rajagopalan S.
Congress (O)
118,193
26.8%
Maruthan K.
Independent
13,124
3.0%
Shenthivelu K.
Independent
4,269
1.0%
1980
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Arunachalam M.
Congress (I)
272,260
62.4%
Rajagopalan S.
Janata Party
163,944
37.6%
1984
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
M. Arunachalam
Indian National Congress
360,517
68.1%
R. Krishnan
CPI (Marxist)
168,950
31.9%
1989
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
M.Arunachalam
Indian National Congress
393,075
62.5%
R.Krishan
CPI (Marxist)
220,368
35.0%
S.Muthiah
Independent
4,320
0.7%
S.Manickaraj
TMM
3,680
0.6%
E.Gopalakirshnan
Independent
2,638
0.4%
M.Subhramanian
Independent
2,271
0.4%
S.Sivan
Independent
1,675
0.3%
V.Mohan
Independent
860
0.1%
1991
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Arunachalam M.
Indian National Congress
381,721
63.6%
Sadhan Thirumalaikumar T.
DMK
199,635
33.2%
Nambirajan E.
Pattali Makkal Katchi
11,479
1.9%
Saker
TMM
3,190
0.5%
Gopalakrishnan E.
Independent
1,737
0.3%
Subramanian M.
Independent
1,616
0.3%
Ariramakrishan I.
Independent
1,191
0.2%
1996
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Arunachalam, M.
Trinamool Congress
290,663
45.0%
Selvaraj V.
Indian National Congress
194,737
30.1%
Jeyaraj P.
CPI (Marxist)
82,615
12.8%
Arumugam S.
Bharatiya Janata Party
52,120
8.1%
Amirtharaj.T.
Pattali Makkal Katchi
16,328
2.5%
Karuppasamy S.
Independent
2,383
0.4%
Devadoss R.
Independent
2,058
0.3%
Shumugiah M.
Independent
1,994
0.3%
Subramanian, M.
Independent
1,212
0.2%
Maruthan K.
Independent
1,035
0.2%
Vellapandi S.
Independent
1,000
0.2%
1998
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Murugesan,S.
AIADMK
270,053
41.8%
Arunachalam.M
Trinamool Congress
172,786
26.8%
Krishnasamy,Dr.K.
PT
123,592
19.1%
Selvaraj,V.
Indian National Congress
77,285
12.0%
Lakshmanan,K
Independent
1,059
0.2%
Balamurugan,D.
Independent
716
0.1%
1999
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Murugesan,S.
AIADMK
239,241
35.9%
Arumugam,S.
Bharatiya Janata Party
238,354
35.7%
Krishnasamy, Dr. K.
PT
186,220
27.9%
Bala Murugan, D.
Independent
2,316
0.3%
Shanmuga Sundaraj, R.
Independent
695
0.1%
2004
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Appadurai, M.
Communist Party of India
348,000
48.9%
Murugesan. S
AIADMK
225,824
31.7%
Krishnasamy. Dr., K
Janata Dal (United)
101,122
14.2%
Vadivel Kumar. M
Independent
14,441
2.0%
Lakshmanan. R
Independent
5,599
0.8%
Luke Jayakumar. P
Bahujan Samaj Party
4,759
0.7%
Chandran. S
Janata Party
2,449
0.3%
Ramakrishnan. S
Independent
2,285
0.3%
Balasundaram. S
Independent
2,153
0.3%
Chellammal. A
Independent
1,663
0.2%
Saravanan. T
Independent
1,436
0.2%
Gopalakrishnan. E
Independent
1,378
0.2%
Amirtha Raj. T
Independent
1,041
0.1%
2009
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Lingam P
Communist Party of India
281,174
37.7%
Vellaipandi G
Indian National Congress
246,497
33.0%
Krishnasamy, Dr. K
PT
116,685
15.6%
Inbaraj K
DMDK
75,741
10.2%
Krishnan K
Bahujan Samaj Party
6,948
0.9%
Lakshmanan R
Independent
6,633
0.9%
Ramachandran E
Independent
4,471
0.6%
Jothiraj M
Samajwadi Party
3,984
0.5%
Balakrishnan S
Independent
3,912
0.5%
2014
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Vasanthi.M
AIADMK
424,586
41.7%
Dr.Krishnasamy.K.
PT
262,812
25.8%
Dr.Sadhan Thirumalaikumar.T.
MDMK
190,233
18.7%
Dr.Jayakumar.K.
Indian National Congress
58,963
5.8%
Lingam.P
Communist Party of India
23,528
2.3%
None Of The Above
Independent
14,492
1.4%
Krishnasamy.A.
Independent
12,115
1.2%
Gunasekaran.K.
TNMC
8,022
0.8%
Radhakrishnan.S.
Independent
3,904
0.4%
Manmathan,M.
Independent
3,331
0.3%
Kannan
Bahujan Samaj Party
2,917
0.3%
Muneeswaran
Independent
2,513
0.2%
Magesh.S.
Independent
2,163
0.2%
Ganesan.S.
Independent
1,809
0.2%
Janagar Raja
Independent
1,777
0.2%
Poongani.J.
Samajwadi Party
1,454
0.1%
Velladurai.P.
Independent
1,216
0.1%
Alagumalai.V.
Independent
1,215
0.1%
Meenashisundaravadivel.T.
CPI(ML)RS
888
0.1%
2019
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Dhanush.M.Kumar
DMK
476,156
45.3%
Dr.Krishnasamy.K
AIADMK
355,870
33.8%
Ponnuthai. S
Independent
92,116
8.8%
Mathivanan.S.S
NTK
59,445
5.7%
Muneshwaran. K
MNM
24,023
2.3%
Ponnuthai.M
Independent
4,733
0.5%
Perumalsamy. S
Independent
4,334
0.4%
Bharatharaj. S
Independent
4,226
0.4%
Ponnusamy.R
Independent
3,306
0.3%
Suriyaragupathi. T
Independent
3,002
0.3%
Palani Samy.S
Independent
2,950
0.3%
Ponnuthai.G
Independent
2,427
0.2%
Selvakumar. M
Independent
2,230
0.2%
Moorthy. D
Independent
1,985
0.2%
Deepan Arun.A
Independent
1,965
0.2%
Sivajayaprakash.S
Independent
1,947
0.2%
Muthumurugan. M
Independent
1,734
0.2%
Sundaram.N
Independent
1,490
0.1%
Thamarai Selvam. K
Independent
1,473
0.1%
Dhanuskodi.P
Independent
1,245
0.1%
Ravi. K
ACDP
1,194
0.1%
Ponnuthai. M
Independent
1,129
0.1%
Vairavan. P
Independent
998
0.1%
Subbiah. S
Independent
808
0.1%
Thangaraj. C
Independent
727
0.1%
Margin Over Time
Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party's broad bloc (Congress / BJP / Left / other).
Trend
Tenkasi has been contested at 13 Lok Sabha general elections on record since 1971. Parties that have won this seat over that span: Indian National Congress, Congress (I), Trinamool Congress, AIADMK, Communist Party of India, DMK.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Tenkasi in the 2019 Lok Sabha election?
Dhanush.M.Kumar (DMK) won Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, in 2019 with 476,156 votes (45.3%), a margin of 120,286 votes over Dr.Krishnasamy.K.
Which parties have won Tenkasi since 1971?
Since 1971, Tenkasi has been won by: AIADMK, Communist Party of India, Congress (I), DMK, Indian National Congress, Trinamool Congress.
What was the closest result in Tenkasi?
The closest result on record for Tenkasi was 1999, when AIADMK beat Bharatiya Janata Party by just 887 votes (0.1 percentage points).