Ranipet also known as Ranipettai (Rani means queen, pettai means district) is a suburb town and industrial hub of Vellore city in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. It is a medium-sized community located about 20 kilometers from the Vellore city center (from Vellore Fort) and also Ranipet is a part of vellore metropolitan area and 100 kilometers from Chennai, the fourth largest urban area in India. It is a major industrial town located on NH 4 Chennai-Bangalore highway.
This town is situated on the northern bank of the Palar river and had a population of 50,764 as of 2011.
Ranipet was built around the year 1771 by Sadut-ulla-khan, the Nawab of Carnatic, in honor of the youthful widow of Desingh Raja of Gingee, who committed Sati upon her husband's death. Out of respect for Desingh Raja's valour and his wife's devotion, the Nawab formed a new village opposite to Arcot on the Northern bank of Palar river and named it Ranipet.
The town gained importance since the establishment of European contonment. About a mile west of Ranipet is a remarkable thope extending along the Palar river, for a distance of 4.8 Km which is known as 'Navlakh Bagh'. It is supposed to contain 9 lakhs of trees and hence the name "Navlakh Bagh". South India's first rail operation was operated between Royapuram to Ranipet.
Ranipet is a legislative assembly constituency in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Elections and winners in the constituency are listed below..