Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin Defeated in Own Constituency

April 4, Kathmandu – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has been defeated in his stronghold, Kolathur, in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections. Stalin lost to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate B.S. Babu by a margin of 8,795 votes. According to the final results, B.S. Babu secured 82,997 votes, while Chief Minister Stalin received only 74,202 votes.

Stalin had been elected continuously from the Kolathur constituency since 2011 and was widely expected to win easily this time as well. However, after this defeat, he became the fourth sitting Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu’s electoral history to lose from his own constituency while in power. This is the first time in nearly three decades that a sitting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has been defeated in their constituency. Previously, in the 1996 assembly election, then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was defeated in the Bargur constituency.

Since then, no sitting Chief Minister had lost their own seat. According to Tamil Nadu’s democratic history, in the first assembly election of 1952, Congress leader P.S. Kumaraswami Raja was defeated in the Srivilliputhur constituency. Later, in 1967, after Congress lost power and DMK came to power, then Chief Minister M. Bhaktavatsalam was also defeated in the Srivilliputhur seat. M.K. Stalin is the first DMK Chief Minister who has been unable to retain his own constituency seat while leading the government.