Madras High Court rejects Stalin’s challenge to Kolathur election result

Stalin, a three-time incumbent, lost his Kolathur seat in the 2026 state assembly elections by a margin of 8,795 votes. His legal challenge called for a total recount and a judicial declaration naming him the winner instead of the TVK representative. He cited perceived irregularities in the process as the primary grounds for invalidating the current outcome.

V.S. Babu attributed his win to the popularity of party chief Vijay and a deep-rooted local connection, framing the result as a clear mandate for change. He dismissed Stalin’s claims by highlighting the anti-incumbency sentiment in Tamil Nadu, asserting that voters favored his grassroots presence over the former Chief Minister’s tenure. Despite the loss, Stalin noted that the DMK alliance maintained significant support, trailing the winning party by 3.52 percent with over 1.54 million votes cast for his coalition.