Whistling through Tamil Nadu: Early trends show TVK leading in 73 seats in poll debut

CHENNAI: Early trends for the vote counting to select the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly has the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) putting up a surprise show in its poll debut, with the party leading in 73 seats amid early trends by the Election Commission of India.

As the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-led alliance is following close behind with leads in 60 seats, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led alliance is at a slow third place, leading in just 37 seats.

Election Commission data shows that in the second round out of more than twenty, TVK leaders are leading by a margin of more than 2,000 votes in multiple constituencies. Madavaram constituency, with TK candidate M L Vijayprabhu is leading in his seat by a margin of more than 8,406 votes.

Amid early trends, tents from the DMK headquarters in Chennai, Anna Arivalayam, were being removed and chairs packed back as party workers fall behind their previous win of getting 133 seats. However, with multiple other rounds to go, there are some leads which could come up later on in the day.

Tamil Nadu is witnessing a rare three-way fight. Data shown by news networks however point to massive gains for Vijay’s TVK with leads in 98 seats as compared to 62 for the DMK alliance and 72 for AIADMK alliance.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections | Tents are being removed from Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters in Chennai, as the early trends show DMK at a distant third position.

TVK is leading on 45, AIADMK on 41 and DMK on 19 seats, as per early trends. pic.twitter.com/7xPojVMKcQ

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2026

Apart from Tamil Nadu, Counting is under way across 823 constituencies in key regions including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Keralam, Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The process begins with postal ballots, followed by counting of Electronic Voting Machines from 8.30 am, with round-wise results being updated in real time on the ECINET platform and the Election Commission’s official portal.

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay is leading in the Tiruchirappalli East Assembly constituency at the end of the first round of counting by a margin of 1,669 votes, following the counting of votes for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections began on Monday. (ANI)