In Tamil Nadu Poll, DMK, Vijay’s TVK Battle For Chennai’s 16 Assembly Seats
The battle for 16 Assembly segments in Chennai district during the April Tamil Nadu election will likely be a fierce contest between the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and actor Vijay’s fledgling Tamil Vettri Kazhagam.
Vijay is expected to contest the Perambur seat while TVK general secretaries N ‘Bussy’ Anand and Aadhav Arjun have reportedly settled on Villivakkam and T Nagar. And they will likely be joined by a wave of second-rung leaders looking to make their mark in the metropolis.
All 16 seats in Chennai district were won by the DMK in 2021.
The city has been a DMK stronghold since the 1970s, in no small measure because it is home to some of its most prominent faces, starting with Chief Minister MK Stalin and his son and deputy, Udhayanidhi. Father and son hold the Kolathur and Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni seats.
The exception was a decade ago; in the 2011 election arch-rivals All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, then led by J Jayalalithaa, won 12 of these 16 seats, a victory that signalled the party’s urban coming-of-age. Jayalalithaa herself won the RK Nagar seat.
That marked a shift from her tradition of standing from rural-dominated seats like Andipatti in 2002 and 2006. The DMK hit back in 2016 and achieved the total sweep in 2021.
Since Jayalalithaa’s death the AIADMK has been losing ground in the city and across the state; a turn of events underlined by its wins being consolidated in western districts in the 2021 poll.
Vijay’s strategic focus on Chennai now threatens to muddy the waters for the DMK.
Because the ruling party currently holds every seat, any gain comes at its direct expense. And with Vijay’s popularity particularly potent among the youth and lower-income demographics, his strong urban connection remains a significant concern for the DMK’s planners.
Vijay maintains a following in rural areas but his impact is expected to be most in urban pockets, particularly in Chennai. This likely explains why his party is gravitating toward the capital. Vijay from Perambur is also fraught with political symbolism, as it neighbours the Chief Minister’s own constituency. A strong showing will be seen as a direct challenge to Stalin.
The 2026 election will turn Chennai into a political hotbed, testing the limits of the DMK’s grassroots machinery against Vijay’s star power. As the AIADMK’s footprint in the city risks receding further, the battle is becoming a high-stakes duel between the TVK and the DMK.
In fact, the results could well reflect a larger trend for the state.
