Chennai, long regarded as a citadel of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), witnessed a stunning political upset as the fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) stormed seats in the capital city, indicating a sharp shift in urban voter sentiment.
The two-year-old party clinched 14 out of the 16 seats in the city, leaving the DMK with only Harbour and Chepauk-Thiruvallikkeni constituencies. This marks a dramatic reversal from 2021, when the DMK-led alliance swept all 16 constituencies. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) failed to win any seats in Chennai.
TVK founder C Joseph Vijay anchored the party’s performance in Chennai by winning from Perambur, while close associates Aadhava Arjuna (Villivakkam) and Bussy Anand (T Nagar) added to the tally. In a major upset, Chief Minister MK Stalin lost his Kolathur seat to TVK’s VS Babu, underscoring the scale of the swing.
Mylapore, where BJP leader Tamilisai Soundarrajan contested, went for TVK’s Venkataramanan. In another big upset, AIADMK heavyweight D Jayakumar lost his Royapuram constituency to first-time candidate and autorickshaw driver KV Vijay Damu of TVK.
The outcome echoes past political inflection points in Tamil Nadu. The rise of the AIADMK in 1977 dealt a heavy blow to the DMK, and the 1991 elections — held in the shadow of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi — saw a sweeping mandate for the AIADMK-Congress alliance. Another setback came in 2011 amid strong anti-incumbency against the DMK-Congress combine.
Yet, in the years since, Chennai had remained a DMK stronghold, until now as TVK emerged into the scene. Political analyst Ramu Manivannan described the result as a significant setback for the DMK, particularly in its traditional urban bastion.
He noted that the defeat of Stalin goes beyond the Vijay factor or a generic desire for change, calling it “a vote without memory and political imagination”.
Published on May 4, 2026