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In One Election, the Lottery King's Family Won Three Constituencies Across Three States Via Three Different Political Parties

4 May 2026 - Kamaraj Nagar, Puducherry

Record date
4 May 2026
Location
Kamaraj Nagar, Puducherry
The odd part

Santiago Martin — India's richest lottery businessman — did not contest the 2026 elections himself. He didn't need to. His wife won Tamil Nadu's Lalgudi, his son-in-law won Tamil Nadu's Villivakkam, and his son Jose Charles won Puducherry's Kamaraj Nagar on his first attempt, through a party he founded four months earlier.

What happened

In the May 4, 2026 election results, the Martin family achieved what usually takes political dynasties three generations: they swept constituencies across two states and a Union Territory simultaneously, through three entirely different political parties. Jose Charles Martin — son of 'Lottery King' Santiago Martin — won Puducherry's Kamaraj Nagar constituency under the banner of Latchiya Jananayaka Katchi, a party he had personally founded in December 2025, four months before polling. Entering the race as Puducherry's richest declared candidate with Rs 609 crore in assets against Rs 210 crore in liabilities, he defeated Congress's P K Devadoss by 10,205 votes. The same day, his mother Leema Rose Martin won Lalgudi and his brother-in-law Adhav Arjuna won Villivakkam — each competing under a different party banner. Santiago Martin himself remained, as always, a businessman.

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