DMK chief MK Stalin suffered a major legal setback on Thursday after the Madras High Court dismissed his petition for 100 per cent counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in Tamil Nadu’s Kolathur assembly constituency. Stalin’s petition was filed after he suffered a shock defeat in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in a seat that had long been one of his strongest political bastions.
Stalin had also asked for the TVK candidate VS Babu's election to be invalidated and declared him elected as the representative of Kolathur. However, the High Court's dismissal of his plea was a significant step forward in the dispute over the election result of the constituency.
VS Babu defeated Stalin by 8,795 votes. Babu secured 82,997 votes, and Stalin received 74,202 votes and finished second. This was highly significant because Stalin had been the Kolathur representative since 2011 and had won three consecutive Assembly elections.
The Election Commission had challenged the maintainability of Stalin's writ petition in the court. An election result can therefore be challenged by an election petition under the Representation of the People Act and not by the kind of writ petition that Stalin filed, they said.
Election Commission Raises Legal Objection
So the Election Commission argued that Stalin should have taken the legal route for challenging the election result. It argued that an election petition was the appropriate mechanism available under election law and that such a challenge should be filed within the stipulated period.
The dispute also involved the verification of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used during the election. After the results were declared on May 4, Stalin applied on May 7 to verify 14 EVM sets. That number is approximately 5 per cent of the 286 EVM sets used in Kolathur constituency.
However, the verification process began on July 29 and was completed on August 5. Stalin argued that the delay in carrying out verification affected his legal remedy in the prescribed period for challenging the election result.
The issue of VVPAT verification was one of the central points in the legal dispute. Stalin wanted to have the VVPAT slips counted all the way through and he wanted to have the voting process of the constituency verified.
A Major Defeat in Kolathur
The election result was a major political blow for Stalin. Kolathur had been associated with him since its formation in 2011 and he had retained the constituency in three successive Assembly elections.
His defeat to VS Babu therefore attracted a lot of political attention. Babu was one of the winners of the 2026 Assembly elections in which he defeated a leading political leader in a constituency where Stalin had been influential for years.
Babu attributed his success to TVK chief Vijay and the party’s appeal to voters in order to win the election. He also said that Tamil Nadu people wanted political change.
Babu said his victory was closely linked to the popularity of his party’s leadership. He said the outcome was an indication of what he believed was a changing political mood among voters.
VS Babu Highlights Local Connection
Babu also stressed his familiarity with Kolathur and its residents. He said that being born and brought up in the area had made him aware of what local concerns and expectations of voters look like.
Babu claimed his local connection played a vital role in his campaign. He claimed he understood the concerns and political mood of residents through long association with the constituency.
The TVK leader also criticized Stalin’s relationship with local voters, saying elected representatives should keep up contact with residents regardless of whether they hold the position of Chief Minister or MLA.
His remarks reflected the political significance TVK attached to the victory in Kolathur. Winning against Stalin in a constituency he had represented for years gave the party an important political moment after the Assembly election.
What the High Court Decision Means
The dismissal of Stalin's plea is another important chapter in the dispute over the Kolathur election result. The court's decision means that the challenge seeking 100 percent VVPAT counting through the writ petition has not succeeded.
The legal issues raised in the proceedings also revealed the processes of election disputes in India. The Election Commission argued that challenges to election results must follow the legal mechanism laid down under the Representation of the People Act.
Stalin and DMK’s defeat in Kolathur is still a major political development. The constituency had been one of Stalin’s most reliable electoral bases since its establishment in 2011, so the 2026 result is very significant.
VS Babu and TVK won big. His victory over Stalin has given the party a high-profile electoral success and solidified its political narrative of change.
With the Madras High Court dismissing Stalin’s appeal, the Kolathur election result has entered a new phase of legal proceedings. The case still has attracted attention because of the political status of the leaders involved and what it has raised about election challenges, EVM verification and VVPAT counting.
