<p>Kolathur Assembly constituency in Chennai was carved out of the former Purasaiwalkam and Villivakkam Assembly segments following the delimitation process in 2008. </p><p>Since the first elections after this process in 2011, only the DMK has won, with M K Stalin romping home each time. Stalin won the first time by a slender margin of 2,734 votes against AIADMK’s ‘Saidai’ Duraiswamy but improved his margin to 37,730 votes in 2016, and further to 70,384 votes in 2021. Stalin is seeking re-election from here for the fourth time. </p> <p><strong>Candidates’ profile:</strong></p><p><strong>DMK:</strong> A graduate from the prestigious Presidency College here, M K Stalin entered politics in his college days and was jailed for a year during the 1975 Emergency. Despite being Karunanidhi’s son, Stalin had to wait for his turn. He was appointed a minister only in his fourth term as an MLA in 2006 and became deputy chief minister in 2009. Unlike others, Stalin had to fight enemies within his own family – his elder brother M K Alagiri challenged his rise – to climb the ladder in the DMK. He lost his first election in 1984 from Thousand Lights, but won from the same seat in 1989, 1996, 2001, and 2006. He shifted to Kolathur in 2011 and has never lost since then. </p><p><strong>AIADMK:</strong> P Santhana Krishnan is a grassroots AIADMK cadre who has been thrust into the limelight in 2026 as a candidate against Chief Minister M K Stalin. Santhana Krishnan is a former councillor of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and a key functionary of the AIADMK in north Chennai.</p><p><strong>TVK:</strong> V S Babu is a former DMK MLA from Purasaiwalkam (2006-2011) and was the in charge for Stalin in Kolathur in the 2011 assembly elections. However, he quit the DMK after allegations of not working enough for the party and joined the AIADMK. Last year, he quit the AIADMK and joined the TVK. He is a known face in Kolathur. </p>
<p>Kolathur Assembly constituency in Chennai was carved out of the former Purasaiwalkam and Villivakkam Assembly segments following the delimitation process in 2008. </p><p>Since the first elections after this process in 2011, only the DMK has won, with M K Stalin romping home each time. Stalin won the first time by a slender margin of 2,734 votes against AIADMK’s ‘Saidai’ Duraiswamy but improved his margin to 37,730 votes in 2016, and further to 70,384 votes in 2021. Stalin is seeking re-election from here for the fourth time. </p> <p><strong>Candidates’ profile:</strong></p><p><strong>DMK:</strong> A graduate from the prestigious Presidency College here, M K Stalin entered politics in his college days and was jailed for a year during the 1975 Emergency. Despite being Karunanidhi’s son, Stalin had to wait for his turn. He was appointed a minister only in his fourth term as an MLA in 2006 and became deputy chief minister in 2009. Unlike others, Stalin had to fight enemies within his own family – his elder brother M K Alagiri challenged his rise – to climb the ladder in the DMK. He lost his first election in 1984 from Thousand Lights, but won from the same seat in 1989, 1996, 2001, and 2006. He shifted to Kolathur in 2011 and has never lost since then. </p><p><strong>AIADMK:</strong> P Santhana Krishnan is a grassroots AIADMK cadre who has been thrust into the limelight in 2026 as a candidate against Chief Minister M K Stalin. Santhana Krishnan is a former councillor of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and a key functionary of the AIADMK in north Chennai.</p><p><strong>TVK:</strong> V S Babu is a former DMK MLA from Purasaiwalkam (2006-2011) and was the in charge for Stalin in Kolathur in the 2011 assembly elections. However, he quit the DMK after allegations of not working enough for the party and joined the AIADMK. Last year, he quit the AIADMK and joined the TVK. He is a known face in Kolathur. </p>