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The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections will be held on April 23, 2026. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday, March 15, announced the schedule and the votes will be counted on May 4. For the Union Territory of Puducherry, polling will be held on April 9, and votes will be counted on May 4.
The announcement was made in Delhi by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, on Sunday, March 15, formally kicking off the election process in the state.
As per the schedule released by the Commission, the election process will begin with the issuance of the gazette notification on March 30. Candidates will have until April 6 to file their nominations, while scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out on April 7.
The last date for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed as April 9. After that, the final list of candidates contesting the polls in the 234 constituencies will be published ahead of voting on April 23. The counting will take place on May 4.
The election process for Puducherry will begin on March 16 with the issuance of the gazette notification, and candidates will have until March 23 to file their nominations, while scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out on March 24.
The last date for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed as March 26. The polling will be on April 9, and counting will take place on May 4.
The term of the current Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on May 10, 2026. The Election Commission is required to conduct the Assembly election before the expiry of the term to enable the formation of a new government.
According to the ECI, Tamil Nadu has a total of 5.67 crore voters, including 2.77 crore male voters, 2.89 crore female voters and 7,617 transgender persons. Meanwhile, Puducherry has a total of 9.44 lakh voters with 4.43 lakh male voters, 5 lakh female voters and 139 transgender persons.
Across the five poll-bound states and Union Territory, the Election Commission will deploy nearly 25 lakh election officials for the conduct of the polls. This includes 15 lakh polling personnel, 8.5 lakh security officials, and 49,000 micro observers overseeing polling stations. Additionally, 1,444 observers, 40,000 counting officials, 21,000 sector officers, and 15,000 micro observers for counting will be deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of the election process.
Following the announcement of the schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into effect across Tamil Nadu. The code prohibits governments from announcing new schemes, grants or relief measures and bars the use of official resources for election campaigning.
Political parties, candidates and government officials will be required to comply with the MCC guidelines until the election process concludes with the counting of votes on xx.
The term of the current Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on May 10, 2026. The Election Commission is required to conduct the Assembly election before the expiry of the term to enable the formation of a new government.
The assembly elections are taking place in the backdrop of a massive Special Intensive Revision (SIR) carried out by the Election Commission.
In Tamil Nadu, the exercise was conducted from October 2025 to February 2026, and the final electoral roll showed around 5.67 crore voters, with over 70 lakh names deleted and about 27 lakh new voters added following scrutiny and corrections.
Political parties in Tamil Nadu, except the BJP and AIADMK, opposed ECI’s move to conduct SIR before crucial elections and alleged that the exercise would lead to the exclusion of genuine voters.
Party and positions
In the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) came to power by winning 133 seats out of 234 seats on its own. The DMK-led Secular Democratic Alliance (SDA), which includes Congress, Vidhuthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Left parties, secured a total of 159 seats. The DMK-led alliance had a combined vote share of 45.38%.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which contested the elections along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won 66 seats. The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) won five seats, and the BJP secured four Assembly segments. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance’s vote share stood at 39.71%.
Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) contested alone in all 234 constituencies and managed to secure a vote share of 6.58%.
2026 Assembly Elections Scenario
This time, the 2026 Assembly election scenario is poised for a four-cornered contest between the incumbent DMK-led alliance, the AIADMK-led NDA alliance, actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), and NTK.
The ruling DMK, led by Chief Minister MK Stalin, has largely managed to keep its alliance intact and has added new political parties like Captain Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and actor Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) into its fold. The party is banking on the welfare measures rolled out by the DMK government over the past five years.
The AIADMK, which had quit the NDA before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is now back in the alliance once again but is yet to get its act together. Though former Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami toured more than 180 constituencies, the party is yet to make a significant impact on the ground.
The new entrant, actor-turned-politician Vijay, is likely to go it alone in the upcoming elections to test his party’s actual strength. The party’s events have been drawing huge crowds, but the question remains whether these crowds will translate into votes.
TVK’s strength and leadership came under scrutiny when 41 people, including women and children, lost their lives in a stampede at Vijay’s rally in Karur in September 2025. The tragedy raised serious questions about the party’s leadership and the way the situation was handled.
TVK was willing to align with the Congress, but the DMK managed to close the alliance deal after hectic parleys. As a last-ditch effort, the BJP reached out to Vijay to join the NDA. However, sources in TVK said the party’s stance has not changed and that it will contest on its own.
NTK, which has a sizeable vote bank, has resisted all attempts to join an alliance and has decided to go it alone, resulting in a four-cornered contest in Tamil Nadu.