Tamil Nadu’s 2026 election results threw up a remarkable family story: Leema Rose Martin (AIADMK) and her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna (TVK) — rivals by party, family by blood — both won their respective seats and are headed to the same Assembly.
The ‘Saas’: Leema Rose Martin, wife of ‘Lottery King’ Santiago Martin, won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket by 2,739 votes, defeating candidates from both the DMK and TVK — the very party her son-in-law leads the election wing of.
The ‘Damaad’: Aadhav Arjuna, election wing secretary of TVK and married to Martin’s daughter Daisy, won from Villivakkam in Chennai. A senior TVK face and close Vijay confidant, he is now tipped for a ministerial berth.
The Twist: The two belong to opposing camps — AIADMK and TVK — but share a dining table. Leema Rose joined AIADMK barely a month before the election, while Aadhav Arjuna had already staked his political future on Vijay’s wave. Both bets paid off.
The History: The last time Tamil Nadu saw a mother-in-law and son-in-law win Assembly seats together was in 1991 — when senior Congress leader A.S. Ponnammal won from Nilakottai and her son-in-law Subburathnam won from Palani on an AIADMK ticket. But they were from the same alliance. In 2026, Leema Rose and Aadhav Arjuna pulled it off from outright rival parties — making it far more extraordinary.
The Big Picture: Three members of the Martin family have won Assembly seats across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry — mother, son, and son-in-law, from three different parties. One family, one historic result day, three MLAs.
