Chennai: The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed the writ petition filed by DMK president and former Chief Minister M K Stalin seeking 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips in the Kolathur Assembly constituency. In his petition, Stalin had also sought to declare him elected after nullifying the victory of TVK MLA VS Babu, alleging irregularities in the voting process.
In his petition, Stalin alleged irregularities in the voting process, claiming that verification of 14 EVMs and VVPAT machines revealed discrepancies. He has sought re-verification of all voting machines used in the constituency. The petition also sought a recount of votes and a declaration that Babu’s election be declared void and Stalin be declared the winner.
Stalin lost his stronghold of Kolathur to VS Babu of the newly formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the 2026 state assembly elections.
In a closely watched contest, Babu secured victory by a margin of 8,795 votes.
Stalin was a three-time MLA from Kolathur, but could not manage to secure the seat for the fourth consecutive time. But despite the setback, he thanked voters, noting that the DMK alliance secured over 1.54 crore votes, with a narrow 3.52 per cent difference from the winning party.
Following the results, VS Babu attributed the victory to party chief Vijay and a local connection. Touching upon the anti-incumbency factor, VS Babu said that his win came against the backdrop of people’s desire for change in Tamil Nadu.
“I have won only with our leader. Our leader’s face is the face of Tamil Nadu. People wanted a change, and they have changed this. I was born and brought up in that area. We know the pulse of people. It’s we who made him (MK Stalin) enter Kolathur. He doesn’t know anyone in Kolathur. Whether he is CM or MLA, he should mingle with the local people first. People are watching it,” VS Babu told ANI. (ANI)
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