Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK candidate from the Kolathur Assembly constituency, M K Stalin, has lost the election. Actor-turned-politician Vijay’s TVK candidate, V S Babu, has won the seat defeating Stalin and AIADMK’s P Krishnan by a margin of 8,795 votes.
Kolathur is a general constituency in the Chennai district of Tamil Nadu and is considered one of the most crucial seats in the state. Once considered as a stronghold of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M K Stalin, the TVK has now managed to breach this fortress and win the seat.
Kolathur has been a DMK stronghold since 2011, when M K Stalin first won the seat. He retained it in 2016 and 2021.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the constituency recorded a voter turnout of 61%, with Stalin defeating AIADMK candidate Aadirajaram by a significant margin of 41%. Similarly, in the 2016 elections, Stalin also won the seat comfortably against AIADMK’s Prabhakar J C D, securing a 22% margin with a turnout of 65%.
The 2026 election again saw M K Stalin representing the DMK, having filed his nomination on the opening day. He was up against AIADMK candidate P. Santhana Krishnan. In total, 35 candidates were contesting, including those from the BSP, NTK, and several independents, although the main battle was between the DMK, AIADMK, and the TVK.
Voting for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election was held in a single phase on April 23 across all 234 constituencies. Counting is underway today with results expected to be declared by the Election Commission after the conclusion of the counting.
Tamil Nadu was among the five states where elections were held in the first half of 2026. Tamil Nadu went to the polls on April 23, recording a voter turnout of 84.69 per cent in a single-phase election covering all 234 Assembly constituencies, surpassing the previous highest poll participation of 78.39 per cent in the state.
The electoral contest was primarily between the NDA and the INDIA bloc, but the entry of actor-turned-politician Vijay’s TVK has transformed it into a fiercely contested three-way battle. Key figures in the fray included Chief Minister MK Stalin, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, and Vijay.
