What Stalin said in Madras HC plea to recount Kolathur votes after loss to TVK in 2026 polls

Former Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin on Monday moved the Madras High Court challenging his loss to the TVK from the Kolathur seat during the 2026 Assembly polls.

Though TVK candidate V.S. Babu had won over Stalin with a margin of 8,795 votes, the DMK supremo has now claimed that there had been malfunctions in the voting machines and issues with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips.

In that regard, he has sought that the Kolathur votes be recounted and he be declared the winner, after the 2026 polls broke his three-time winning streak from this seat.

What is the issue about?

Stalin claimed that soon after the results of the 2026 polls were declared on May 7 this year, he had filed an application to check and verify the burnt memory/microcontroller for 14 EVMs in case of tampering.

However, he alleged that despite appealing in May, the EVM verification was done much later, on July 29, as per a LiveLaw report.

Stalin also pointed out that out of 14 EVMs, two had stopped working soon after they were taken up for checking, and added that a technical diagnosis was needed.

In the case of another EVM, address tags on the carrying cases of Ballot Units (BUs) and Control Units (CUs) were also allegedly left blank, with seals affixed on the wrong side, and other such issues.

He claimed one of the CUs had even failed to detect a BU with his name on it, raising questions of how many other such CUs existed.

However, he pointed out that despite the lapses, the District Election Officer had said that the checking and verification process had been carried out successfully, in line with the prescribed procedures.

Arguing that such technical failures hindered free and fair elections, he urged the court to reverse the decision of the District Election Officer, that votes be recounted in the Kolathur constituency, and that Babu's win be declared void.