Five months after Tamil Nadu voters elected a new government, some of them returned to polling booths on Tuesday to answer a narrower question: Whether the political movement that brought C Joseph Vijay to power has endured through its first months of governing.At 11 am, Madurantakam recorded 35.55 per cent turnout and Dharapuram 37.28 per cent. Both constituencies are reserved seats and were won in April by AIADMK candidates who resigned to join Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), and are now seeking re-election with this party.In neighbouring Puducherry, meanwhile, Thattanchavady was voting in a separate by-election necessitated by Chief Minister N Rangasamy’s decision to vacate the constituency after winning two seats in April. Turnout there was 19.2 per cent by 9 am, slightly above the 18.32 per cent recorded during the same first two hours in the April Assembly election.ALSO READ | Vijay’s ‘river of obscenity’ barb to slam DMK, Udhayanidhi’s ‘reels’ counterThe Tamil Nadu contests carry a different political weight.TVK won 108 seats in April but fell short of an outright majority and formed the government with support from smaller parties. Since then, defections from the AIADMK have altered the political landscape. Madurantakam’s Maragatham Kumaravel and Dharapuram’s P Sathyabama were among the AIADMK legislators who resigned and moved to TVK.Voters are now being asked, in effect, whether their representatives moved alone.Story continues below this adThat question explains the unusual intensity of the campaign. Vijay spent four days personally campaigning in the two constituencies — two days of public rallies and two of roadshows — a substantial commitment for two by-elections from a Chief Minister whose own appearances during the April statewide campaign had been comparatively limited.For TVK, winning both seats would validate not only its candidates but the continuing movement of politicians and local organisations towards the ruling party. Losing one would give the AIADMK and DMK an opening to argue that the post-April political realignment has limits.CHECK THE LIVE UPDATES ON THE BYELECTIONS HERE.The first hours of voting offered few reliable clues.Madurantakam began sluggishly, reaching 15.99 per cent turnout around 9.30 am, before the pace accelerated. When reporters asked Kumaravel about the initially lower turnout compared with the general election, she offered a distinctly local explanation: Tuesday, she said, was a day when many women visited temples. They would pray for a TVK victory and then come to vote, she said.“People have the same enthusiasm as during the general election,” Kumaravel said. “They are coming to vote with smiling faces.”Story continues below this adThe gender question has occupied TVK’s calculations throughout the campaign. Women outnumber men among registered voters in both constituencies: Madurantakam has 108,797 women and 104,926 men among its 213,788 voters, while Dharapuram has 116,013 women and 107,285 men among 223,306 electors.Earlier, Kumaravel said voters retained confidence in Vijay and argued that the four-month-old government needed more time to demonstrate change.Polling itself encountered some interruptions. In Madurantakam, electronic voting machines (EVMs) developed technical problems at two polling stations. At booth 26 in Sithandi, the control unit had to be replaced twice. At booth 55 in L Endathur, the ballot unit was changed after polling agents objected to a visible mark on the name of a candidate.In Dharapuram, voting at a booth in Kottapulipalayam was interrupted by an EVM malfunction, while another machine problem delayed polling at Kundadam-Manurpalayam.Story continues below this adThere were political disputes as well. At Kolinjivadi, agents objected to a polling official whom they accused of acting in favour of TVK, leading to an interruption in voting. At Veerachimangalam, AIADMK members stopped a vehicle carrying TVK functionaries from outside the constituency, alleging that they had come to distribute tokens to households. DMK and AIADMK members then argued with TVK workers.The allegations come after a campaign in which opposition parties repeatedly accused the ruling party of using money and government machinery to influence voters. TVK has denied accusations of cash distribution.Sathyabama, the TVK candidate in Dharapuram, also entered polling day dealing with a video circulating on social media that purported to show her discussing election expenditure and other matters. After voting at a school in Madukkampalayam, she said the video had been fabricated and that those responsible for releasing it had been identified.“The people are clear,” she said, insisting that the video would not affect the result.Story continues below this adFor the AIADMK, the identity of the TVK candidates has been central to the election. Both were elected on AIADMK tickets only months ago. Edappadi K Palaniswami has accused them of betraying the voters who elected them, while AIADMK workers have repeatedly used the word “traitor” during the campaign.The DMK has made much the same event into a broader democratic argument. Former CM M K Stalin described the by-elections as having been imposed on voters because elected representatives resigned and returned to seek their votes under another party.The DMK has its own stake in Tuesday’s numbers. It is contesting without most of the alliance that accompanied it into the April election. Even without winning, an improvement on its previous performance would allow the party to point to the size of its independent vote after its loss of power.The Left parties, despite supporting the TVK government from outside, are contesting against it: CPI(M)’s Suganthi is in the race in Madurantakam and CPI’s P Lakshmanan in Dharapuram. Naam Tamilar Katchi is also contesting both seats, making the elections five-cornered.In Puducherry, the political geometry is different.Story continues below this adEleven candidates are contesting in Thattanchavady, but the principal contest is among the ruling AINRC-led NDA, Congress and the DMK. Rangasamy’s AINRC has fielded Ashok Anand, while Congress candidate E Vinayagam has TVK’s support. The DMK has fielded K Sethuselvam.For Rangasamy, the election provides an early measure of support for his four-month-old NDA government. For Vijay, the Puducherry contest places TVK in the less exposed position of supporting an ally rather than defending its own government and two defectors.The distinction is important. A general election asks voters who should govern. A by-election held five months later may be asking what they make of what has happened since.In Madurantakam and Dharapuram, even that question has an unusually literal form. Voters elected two candidates in April. The candidates changed parties. On Tuesday, the voters get to decide whether they have changed with them.Story continues below this adPolling continues until 6 pm. Counting will take place on October 9.