Chennai auto driver stuns political heavyweights, wins Royapuram for TVK
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Chennai auto driver stuns political heavyweights, wins Royapuram for TVK")
K Vijay Dhamu, has defeated seasoned leaders from both the DMK and the AIADMK to win the Royapuram constituency Photograph: (X)
Auto driver K. Vijay Dhamu of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) stunned Tamil Nadu by winning the Royapuram seat, defeating AIADMK veteran D. Jayakumar and DMK’s Subair Khan in a historic upset.
In one of the most striking upsets of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026, an auto driver, K Vijay Dhamu, has defeated seasoned leaders from both the DMK and the AIADMK to win the Royapuram constituency, marking a dramatic breakthrough for the debutant Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. Dhamu secured over 55,000 votes, winning the seat by a margin of around 14,000 votes over his nearest rival. The scale of the victory has been widely described as a David versus Goliath moment in the state’s political landscape.
The result is particularly significant for the AIADMK, as its senior leader and five-time MLA D. Jayakumar was pushed to a distant third place with just over 18,000 votes. The DMK’s Subair Khan, son of former minister Rahman Khan, finished second but failed to counter the surge in support for TVK.
Dhamu, who has been associated with Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, the fan network of actor and TVK chief Vijay, ran a campaign centred on his identity as a grassroots worker. “You may call us new faces, but we have been working on the ground for years through our fan clubs,” Dhamu said during the campaign.
A widely circulated image from the party’s candidate announcement event, showing an emotional Dhamu embracing Vijay, has come to symbolise the party’s rise and its connection with grassroots supporters. Political observers attribute the victory to the strategy adopted by Vijay, who positioned himself as the central face of the campaign across constituencies. This allowed candidates like Dhamu to tap into his popularity while focusing on local issues.
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In Royapuram, Dhamu’s campaign focused heavily on the fishing community, with promises of modernised infrastructure and improved social security, which appeared to resonate strongly with voters.
