Tamil Nadu Assembly Election Results 2026 | A taste of defeat for M K Stalin in Kolathur? Who is V S Babu, TVK's candidate leading against DMK chief

As vote counting continues in Tamil Nadu, early trends indicate that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is moving close to the majority mark, while the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has slipped to a distant third in the assembly election race.

Amid the shifting electoral picture, Chief Minister M K Stalin is trailing in his stronghold of Kolathur after the initial rounds of counting for the April 23 Assembly polls.

Stalin, who is seeking a second straight term is behind TVK’s VS Babu by more than 7,900 votes, according to the latest trends on the Election Commission website. R Santhanakrishnan of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is in third place.

VS Babu is leading the constituency with 41,616 votes at the of publishing this copy.

Kolathur has been held by Stalin, the DMK president, since 2011. In the 2021 election, he retained the seat by defeating AIADMK’s Aadhi Rajaram by 70,384 votes. Rajaram, now contesting from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, is currently placed third, while Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin is leading there by 1,048 votes.

A veteran politician and former MLA, VS Babu earlier represented Purasawalkam after winning the 2006 election as a DMK candidate. He joined TVK on February 7, 2026. With more than two decades in politics, he served as Purasawalkam MLA from 2006 to 2011, winning by over 90,000 votes against the AIADMK candidate.

According to his 2026 election affidavit, Babu has declared assets worth Rs 3.7 crore.