R. Govindasamy was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the Virudhachalam constituency in the 2001 elections. He was a candidate of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) party. [1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMK | T. R. V. S. Ramesh | 522,160 | 50.27% | 21.70% | |
| PMK | R. Govindasamy | 378,177 | 36.41% | ||
| Independent | K. Thangavel | 44,892 | 4.32% | ||
| NTK | R. Chithra | 34,692 | 3.34% | ||
| MNM | V. Annamalai | 23,713 | 2.28% | ||
| NOTA | None of the above | 8,725 | 0.84% | −0.22% | |
| ACDP | Kuppusamy | 7,540 | 0.73% | ||
| Margin of victory | 1,43,983 | 13.86% | −6.99% | ||
| Turnout | 10,38,741 | 76.49% | −1.91% | ||
| Registered electors | 13,64,038 | 9.31% | |||
| DMK gain from AIADMK | Swing | 0.85% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMDK | A. Vijayakanth | 61,337 | 40.42% | New | |
| PMK | R. Govindasamy | 47,560 | 31.34% | −18.79 | |
| AIADMK | R. Kasinathan | 35,876 | 23.64% | New | |
| BJP | V. Aravind | 1,265 | 0.83% | New | |
| Independent | C. Vijayakanth | 1,174 | 0.77% | New | |
| SP | K. Mangapillai | 878 | 0.58% | New | |
| Independent | K. Vijayakanth | 832 | 0.55% | New | |
| Margin of victory | 13,777 | 9.08% | 3.89% | ||
| Turnout | 151,731 | 76.98% | 9.09% | ||
| Registered electors | 197,117 | ||||
| DMDK gain from PMK | Swing | -9.71% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PMK | Dr. R. Govindasamy | 68,905 | 50.13% | +17.96 | |
| DMK | Kuzhandai Tamizharasan | 61,777 | 44.95% | +7.53 | |
| MDMK | G. Vengadasalabthi | 1,657 | 1.21% | −2.87 | |
| Independent | G. Jayabalan | 1,650 | 1.20% | New | |
| BSP | Pon. Nagappan | 1,230 | 0.89% | New | |
| Independent | T. Senthilkumar | 1,011 | 0.74% | New | |
| Margin of victory | 7,128 | 5.19% | −0.06% | ||
| Turnout | 137,440 | 67.88% | −5.59% | ||
| Registered electors | 202,466 | ||||
| PMK gain from DMK | Swing | 12.71% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DMK | Kuzhandai Tamizharasan | 49,103 | 37.42% | +16.75 | |
| PMK | R. Govindasamy | 42,218 | 32.18% | New | |
| AIADMK | C. Ramanathan | 30,166 | 22.99% | −22.06 | |
| MDMK | M. M. Srinivasan | 5,349 | 4.08% | New | |
| Independent | A. Rajendran | 2,202 | 1.68% | New | |
| Margin of victory | 6,885 | 5.25% | −7.16% | ||
| Turnout | 131,213 | 73.47% | 0.31% | ||
| Registered electors | 185,683 | ||||
| DMK gain from AIADMK | Swing | -7.63% | |||