Madras High Court dismisses Stalin's plea for 100% VVPAT counting in Kolathur

DMK president and former Chief Minister MK Stalin suffered a setback in his legal challenge against the Kolathur Assembly election result after the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed his petition seeking a complete count of VVPAT slips and a recount of votes.

Stalin had moved the court following his defeat in Kolathur, his long-time political stronghold, in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. He lost the closely watched contest to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) candidate VS Babu by 8,795 votes.

The petition sought 100% verification of VVPAT slips and a re-examination of all EVMs used in the constituency. Stalin alleged discrepancies after the verification of 14 EVMs and VVPAT machines and had sought a wider re-verification exercise.

He had also asked the court to set aside Babu's election and declare him the winner after a recount of votes.

The defeat marked a major electoral setback for Stalin, who had represented Kolathur three times and was seeking a fourth consecutive term from the constituency.

After the results, Stalin had thanked voters and pointed to the overall vote share secured by the DMK alliance, which crossed 1.54 crore votes. He said the difference between the alliance and the winning party stood at 3.52%.

Babu, meanwhile, had described his victory as a reflection of the demand for political change in Tamil Nadu and credited TVK chief Vijay for the party's performance.

Speaking to ANI after the victory, Babu also highlighted his local connection with Kolathur and said his understanding of the constituency had played a role in the result.

"I have won only with our leader. Our leader's face is the face of Tamil Nadu. People wanted a change, and they have changed this," Babu said.

With ANI inputs