Thanjavur is the heart of the district and an urban-centric seat. It has historically been a competitive ground for the DMK and AIADMK. In the 2021 Assembly elections, DMK’s T. K. G. Neelamegam won the seat with 1,03,772 votes, defeating AIADMK’s V. Arivudainambi, who secured 56,623 votes. The margin of victory was 47,149 votes. In the 2016 Assembly elections (Polled in Nov 2016), AIADMK’s M. Rengasamy won with 1,01,362 votes, defeating DMK’s Anjugam Boopathy, who received 74,488 votes. The margin was 26,874 votes. In the 2011 Assembly elections, AIADMK’s M. Rengasamy won the seat with 75,415 votes, defeating DMK’s S. N. M. Ubayadullah, who secured 68,086 votes. The margin was 7,329 votes.