Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | Chennai's triangular contest: DMK defends as AIADMK, TVK push back

Chennai: For the first time in many decades, this metropolis is witnessing an intense three‑cornered contest, with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) challenging the ruling DMK and opposition AIADMK in many of the 16 assembly constituencies. The fact that Vijay is also contesting from Perambur – a gutsy move for a newcomer politician – has made the April 23 electoral battle even more interesting.

Except for the 1991 ‘wave election’, Chennai has largely been a bastion of the DMK, until AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa broke the citadel by winning half of the 14 seats in 2006 and nearly sweeping the city in 2011. However, aided by its strong ground presence, the DMK made a massive comeback in 2016 by winning 10 of the 16 seats, despite Jayalalithaa contesting from Chennai, and swept the city in the 2021 elections.

AIADMK, which posted a pathetic performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by forfeiting deposits in two city seats, has upped the ante in this election by fielding heavyweights, including former ministers like D Jayakumar (Royapuram), S Gokula Indira (Anna Nagar), and B Valarmathi (Thousand Lights), and known faces to regain its lost ground. 

The DMK is going the extra mile to demonstrate its supremacy over this long‑held citadel. Tamil nationalist party, Naam Tamizhar Katchi, has also fielded candidates in all seats, while becoming the only major party to give opportunity to a transgender woman, Roshini, in Villivakkam. 

‘Most TVK leaders are contesting from Chennai’

With internal surveys showing good leads for the party, not just Vijay but almost all the familiar faces of his outfit, including TVK general secretaries ‘Bussy’ N Anand and Aadhav Arjuna, have entered the fray from Chennai, pushing the well‑entrenched Dravidian parties to sweat it out. 

TVK is expected to eat into the votes of both the DMK and the AIADMK, but the jury is still out on who will be affected the most.

For the DMK, the battle is much more prestigious, as both Chief Minister M K Stalin and his deputy Udhayanidhi Stalin are contesting from Kolathur and Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni here.

Issues are different in every part of the city. While flooding and waterlogging during the monsoon and poor solid waste management are major problems in parts of South Chennai, law and order tops the list in North Chennai with people complaining about substance abuse. 

TVK is expected to give a tough fight to the DMK and AIADMK in north Chennai, a congested neighbourhood with slums plagued by traffic jams and other urban problems, where youngsters and the lower‑middle class openly favour the actor. Vijay contesting from Perambur, a North Chennai locality, could lead to a ripple effect across the region. 

‘Drugs a major issue’

While acknowledging the DMK’s “good work” on infrastructure – the long-neglected North Chennai did receive a major face lift in the last five years -- 

residents point out the rampant illegal sale of ganja in residential areas and how it has raised questions about the safety of residents.

The sale of drugs is an issue that this DH correspondent heard repeatedly during field visits across the city, with people flagging it as one of the major problems contributing to many crimes.

“We get piped water and drainage facilities are also fine. Waterlogging in our area has also become a thing of the past in the last five years. But the sale of ganja has increased, with even teenagers becoming addicted to it. Also, several TASMAC liquor shops have mushroomed in our locality, which isn’t a good thing,” Mala, who sells fruits from a cart in Vyasarpadi, told DH.

‘Bad roads and waterlogging’

DMK seeks votes by flaunting the construction of phase‑II of the Chennai Metro, new swanky buses and bus stands, flyovers, co‑working spaces, and other infrastructure projects – the party has been widely credited with changing the face of the city over the last three decades.

However, bad interior roads, hastily re‑laid roads where Metro construction is on, and waterlogging during the monsoon season despite spending crores on storm water drains are some of the issues that could affect the party’s prospects.

Residents also complain about the lack of a strong mayor – incumbent R Priya is a political novice, while the city has had vibrant mayors like Stalin and Ma Subramanian, who had excellent public connection – a situation that has contributed to several problems, including the city being untidy. 

Garbage disposal is a big problem, and residents want such issues addressed.

“When the DMK is in power, the city has always received some big‑bang projects, but such projects were missing in the last five years. Many interior roads have been in bad shape for a long time, and it has become very difficult to commute. These are some of the issues that the DMK could have focused on,” Rajkumar, a software professional in Kodambakkam, told DH.

AIADMK upping its game

Besides Perambur, Villivakkam, Mylapore, T Nagar, Thousand Lights, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Royapuram and R K Nagar are some of the constituencies that will witness an intense triangular contest. The AIADMK has also upped its game, with EPS campaigning for two full days across all 16 seats in a bid to make a dramatic comeback in the state capital. 

While Stalin and Udhayanidhi are safe in their traditional seats, the contest could go down to the wire in north Chennai constituencies like Harbour, where HR & CE Minister P K Sekarbabu is seeking re‑election, and in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, where the slain BSP chief K Armstrong’s wife, Porkodi, is contesting on an AIADMK ticket. 

Health Minister Ma Subramanian looks comfortable in Saidapet, while the contest in Thousand Lights is truly triangular with incumbent N Ezhilan, who is popular among the people, locking the horns with former AIADMK minister Valarmathi and her former colleague, J C D Prabhakar, who is the TVK candidate. 

The intense contests

Villivakkam is another interesting contest with two candidates who possess huge financial resources – Karthik Mohan of DMK and TVK’s Aadhav Arjuna, son-in-law of lottery baron Santiago Martin, besides AIADMK’s S R Vijayakumar. The contest is also personal as Karthik and Aadhav were close friends when the latter worked for the DMK as a political consultant. 

In neighbouring Anna Nagar, there is an intense contest between former AIADMK minister Gokula Indira taking on DMK councillor N Chitrarasu, a close aide of Udhayanidhi. 

With Vijay fielding a Brahmin candidate, P Venkataramanan, in Mylapore, the battle has become quite interesting with the DMK, BJP, and TVK locking horns with each other. 

In T. Nagar, the business district, the contest was very close in the 2021 elections with B Sathyanarayana, who is contesting once again as AIADMK nominee, losing by a slender margin of 137 votes, the lowest margin in the state, in 2021. He is now pitted along with DMK’s Raja Anbazhagan, and TVK’s Anand, who has been Vijay’s aide for over a decade. 

In Royapuram, Jayakumar is battling to reverse his 2021 defeat by reaching out to every community, while the DMK opted for a fresh face A Subair Khan as incumbent ‘iDream’ Moorthy faces severe anti-incumbency. 

In Velachery, the lone Congress seat in the city, incumbent J M H Aassan Maulaana faces heavy anti-incumbency, while the AIADMK’s M K Ashok is a strong candidate. 

INFOGRAPHIC: 

 

CONSTITUENCIES:

Dr R K Nagar, Perambur, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Thiru Vi.Ka. Nagar, Egmore, Royapuram, Harbour, Chepauk-Tiruvallikeni, Thousand Lights, Anna Nagar, Virugambakkam, Saidapet, T. Nagar, Mylapore, and Velachery.

Total voters: 28.93 lakh

Male voters: 13.95 lakh

Female voters: 14.96 lakh

Third gender voters: 868

Results: (16 seats)

2011:

AIADMK: 14

DMK: 2

2016: 

DMK: 10

AIADMK: 6

2021:

DMK: 16