India, May 10 -- Madras High Court in a special sitting on Sunday, directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file an affidavit explaining why it had not responded to representations filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader KR Periyakaruppan over a disputed postal ballot in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppattur assembly constituency in Sivagangai district.

Periyakaruppan lost the seat to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate R Seenivasa Sethupathi by a single vote in the 2026 assembly elections.

Sethupathy won by securing 83,375 votes, while Periyakaruppan lost by 83,374 votes, a margin of just one vote.

Periyakaruppan challenged the results announced on May 4.

In his writ petition filed before the court, Periyakaruppan sought a ...