Tamil Nadu Assembly polls: Voting beings for 234 seats
Polling for the Assembly elections 2026 began at 7:00 am in Tamil Nadu. Ahead of the voting, mock polling was held at the Chennai High School.
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections are being held in a single phase today. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.
In Tamil Nadu, the main contest is expected between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes the Indian National Congress, DMDK and VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK with BJP and PMK as allies.
Actor-turned-politician Vijay is also set to make his electoral debut with his party TVK, which could turn the contest into a three-way fight.
The high-stakes contest primarily pits the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance against the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance, with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin seeking to retain power and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami fighting to return to the treasury benches after five years.
Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik said the State is fully prepared for the huge democratic exercise.
“The total electoral strength stands at 5.73 crore, comprising 2.93 women, 2.83 crore men, and 7,728 third-gender persons,” Ms. Patnaik said. She noted that 14,59,039 first-time voters have been enrolled.