Actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is on the cusp of creating history in its political debut, leading in over 100 seats as counting progresses in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Leaving heavyweights Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) behind, TVK is leading in 108 seats after six rounds of voting, as per Election Commission of India’s website. While DMK is ahead in 41 seats, the Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led AIADMK was leading in 62 seats, at the time of publishing.
But, what has come as a real blow for the ruling DMK is that around 15 of its cabinet ministers are trailing, which includes Chief Minister and party supremo M.K. Stalin. Though his son and Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin was initially trailing from the Chepauk-Tirvuvallikeni seat, at the time of publishing he had gained a slender lead.
All eyes are now on V.S. Babu, TVK’s candidate from Kolathur, who is giving Stalin a fight like never before.
Who is V.S. Babu?
Babu is a veteran politician and a former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). The 75-year-old previously served as an MLA for the Purasawalkam constituency, having won the 2006 election as a member of the DMK. He joined Vijay’s TVK on February 7, 2026.
A veteran politician with over two decades of experience, Babu served as the Purasawalkam MLA from 2006 to 2011, having defeated the AIADMK candidate by over 90,000 votes.
Babu was the district secretary of the DMK for north Chennai until 2011. He was the incharge of the Kolathur constituency for 2011 election. But, after the loss, he was questioned by the DMK high command as the Stalin won by a low margin. He was replaced by P.K. Shekhar Babu in 2011 as the north Chennai district secretary of the DMK as he fell out of favour with the leadership.
He moved to the AIADMK under Palaniswami only to move to the TVK.
He had declared assets worth ₹3.7 crore as per the 2026 affidavit.
He is currently leading over Stalin by over 5,000 votes as per the ECI website. TVK was leading in most Chennai segments, all considered DMK strongholds and currently represented by the party in the 234-member House.
If the trends continue, Vijay could as well score the biggest electoral upset, in lines with the "1967, 1977" wins he had referred to in his campaign speeches. While the Dravidian stalwart C.N. Annadurai ushered in the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence in 1967, M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) installed the maiden AIADMK government 10 years later, unseating then DMK government under M. Karunanidhi. Ever since 1967, one of the two parties have ruled the southern state, often called the "Dravidian heartland".