# Madhar Badhurudeen
**Madhar Badhurudeen** (மாதார் பதூருதீன்) is an Indian politician and businessman who was elected to the [Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamil-nadu-legislative-assembly) from the Madurai Central constituency in the 2026 state election, standing for the [Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamilaga-vettri-kazhagam) (TVK). He defeated the sitting legislator and former finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan of the [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam](https://www.edgepedia.org/dravida-munnetra-kazhagam) (DMK) by a margin of 19,128 votes, winning 63,414 votes, about 42.7 percent of the valid votes cast.[1](https://www.ndtv.com/elections/tamil-nadu-assembly-election-results-2026/madurai-central) • [2](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Office | Member of the 17th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for Madurai Central (AC 193), term beginning 4 May 2026[3](https://prsindia.org/mlatrack/madhar-badhurudeen) |
| Party | Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the party founded by the film star Vijay[4](https://bbclatestnews.pages.dev/news/articles/cj4pn1z8x45o) |
| 2026 result | 63,414 votes (42.68% of valid votes), 19,128 ahead of runner-up Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (DMK)[2](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central) |
| Age and education | Aged 42 at the 2026 election; passed 10th standard at Muslim Higher Secondary School, Thiruvallikeni, in 2001[5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827) |
| Profession | Meat shop trader, as declared in his 2026 election affidavit[5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827) |
| Declared assets | Rs 25,930,000 (about ₹25.9 million (₹2.59 crore)), with no liabilities and no criminal cases declared[5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827) |
## The 2026 election
Madurai Central is assembly constituency number 193 in Madurai district, a general-category seat and one of the segments of the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency.[2](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central) In the 2026 election, 199,725 electors were registered and turnout was 74.5 percent, with 148,586 valid votes counted across 12 candidates.[2](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central)
Badhurudeen's margin over the runner-up was 19,128 votes, about 12.9 percent of valid votes.[2](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central) The result unseated Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, who had held the seat for the DMK in 2016 and 2021 and had served as a minister in the previous government.[6](https://electionsresults.in/constituency/tamil-nadu/madurai-central/2026) Sundar C of the [All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam](https://www.edgepedia.org/all-india-anna-dravida-munnetra-kazhagam) finished third with 33,538 votes (22.57 percent), and Abdul Hakeem K of the Naam Tamilar Katchi took 5,549 votes (3.73 percent).[2](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central)
**An understated campaign.** Reporting on the election described Badhurudeen as running a low-key campaign while his two rivals from the dominant regional parties, the DMK and the AIADMK, held high-decibel rallies with senior leaders and celebrities campaigning for them; when pictures of his campaigning emerged on social media, few observers thought he would stand a chance.[4](https://bbclatestnews.pages.dev/news/articles/cj4pn1z8x45o) The seat, home to the Meenakshi Amman temple, has a sizeable Muslim population and had been considered one of the safer DMK seats in Madurai, and a section of Muslim voters was reported to have shifted toward TVK in this election.[4](https://bbclatestnews.pages.dev/news/articles/cj4pn1z8x45o)
## Context in the 2026 Tamil Nadu election
The 2026 contest was TVK's first Assembly election. The party, launched in 2024 by the actor-politician Chandrasekhar Joseph Vijay, emerged from the election as the single-largest party, ending the two-party dominance of the DMK and AIADMK that had held in [Tamil Nadu](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamil-nadu) since 1977.[7](https://chronicleclub.in/storage/uploads/1777956087-business-standard.pdf) Badhurudeen's defeat of a high-profile incumbent finance minister in a major urban seat was counted among the notable upsets of that result.[8](https://tnexplorer.com/elections/tn2026/mlas/badhurudeen-madhar-193/) After the count, he told reporters that the victory belonged to the people of the constituency, and in a post-result interview said the party had given opportunities to a wide range of candidates, including many from Dalit backgrounds and several Muslim representatives.[8](https://tnexplorer.com/elections/tn2026/mlas/badhurudeen-madhar-193/)
## Personal and financial background
Badhurudeen's declared personal details come from the sworn affidavit he filed with the [Election Commission of India](https://www.edgepedia.org/election-commission-of-india) in 2026. He was 42 years old at the time of the election, is male, and his declared education is matriculation, the 10th standard completed in 2001.[3](https://prsindia.org/mlatrack/madhar-badhurudeen) • [5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827) His self-declared profession and that of his spouse is a meat shop business, and his income tax returns for 2024–2025 showed a total income of Rs 693,490.[5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827)
His declared assets totaled Rs 2,59,30,000, of which Rs 22 million (Rs 2.2 crore) was a residential building purchased in June 2022, with movable assets of about Rs 3.93 million (Rs 39.3 lakh); he declared no liabilities and no criminal cases.[5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827) His electoral roll registration was in the Chepauk constituency in Chennai, at serial 153 of part 136, rather than in the constituency he contested.[5](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827)
## References
1. [Madurai Central Election Results 2026, NDTV](https://www.ndtv.com/elections/tamil-nadu-assembly-election-results-2026/madurai-central)
2. [Madurai Central (Tamil Nadu) Election Results 2026, ElectionsResults.in / BharatSurvey](https://bharatsurvey.org/assembly/tamil-nadu/madurai-central)
3. [Madhar Badhurudeen, PRS Legislative Research MLA Track](https://prsindia.org/mlatrack/madhar-badhurudeen)
4. [How social media turned Indian film star Vijay into a political force, BBC News](https://bbclatestnews.pages.dev/news/articles/cj4pn1z8x45o)
5. [Madhar Badhurudeen S, affidavit information, MyNeta (Association for Democratic Reforms)](https://myneta.info/TamilNadu2026/candidate.php?candidate_id=827)
6. [Madurai Central (Tamil Nadu) Election Results 2026 | Winner, Margin & Vote Share | ElectionsResults.in](https://electionsresults.in/constituency/tamil-nadu/madurai-central/2026)
7. [Business Standard, 5 May 2026 (TVK emerges as single-largest party)](https://chronicleclub.in/storage/uploads/1777956087-business-standard.pdf)
8. [S. Madhar Badhurudeen, Madurai Central MLA 2026, TN Explorer](https://tnexplorer.com/elections/tn2026/mlas/badhurudeen-madhar-193/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Politicians and government officeholders (biographies) › South Indian politicians › Tamil Nadu politicians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license