TVK leader VS Babu has defeated Chief Minister MK Stalin in his Kolathur bastion by over 8000 votes.
Actor Vijay's party, TVK, is leading on 110 seats, as per the numbers on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website.
If the trends continue, Vijay could well score the biggest electoral upset for DMK and AIADMK – the two Dravidian parties that have traditionally ruled Tamil Nadu.
Who is VS Babu?
Babu is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The 75-year-old previously served as an MLA for the Purasawalkam constituency. He won the 2006 assembly election as a DMK candidate. Babu joined Vijay’s TVK on 7 February 2026.
A veteran politician with over two decades of experience, Babu served as the Purasawalkam MLA from 2006 to 2011 after defeating the AIADMK candidate by over 90,000 votes.
Babu was the DMK district secretary for North Chennai until 2011. He was in charge of the Kolathur constituency for the 2011 election. Stalin won the seat by a low margin in 2011. Basu was replaced by PK Shekhar Babu in 2011 as the north Chennai district secretary of the DMK after falling out of favour with the leadership.
Babu moved from the AIADMK under Palaniswami to the TVK. Babu declared assets worth ₹3.7 crore in his 2026 assembly election affidavit.
This electoral upset could redefine power dynamics in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin won by a margin of 70,384 votes against AIADMK candidate Aadhi Rajaram, who is trailing from Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency against Stalin's son Udhayanidhi.
According to the EC data, more than a dozen Tamil Nadu ministers, including DMK general secretary Duraimurugan, Thangam Thennarasu, TRB Rajaa, Ma Subramanian, PK Sekar Babu, EV Velu, KN Nehru, Getha Jeevan and KKSSR Ramachandran, were trailing.
