2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
Legislative Assembly elections are expected to be held in Tamil Nadu in April–May 2026 to elect all [List of constituencies of the Elections in Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly|234 members] of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
Background
Elections to a State Legislative Assembly in India are usually held once in five years, and the members of the legislative assembly are directly elected to serve five year terms from single-member constituencies. The [2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election|previous Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly|assembly elections] were held in April 2021 to elect the 234 members of the 16th Tamil Nadu Assembly, and the tenure of the assembly ends on 10 May 2026. In the previous election, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam -led Secular Progressive Alliance formed the state government after winning 159 of the 234 seats, and M. K. Stalin sworn in as the chief minister. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which won 66 seats, became the principal opposition party and its leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami was elected and served as the leader of the opposition.In June 2022, three members-O. Panneerselvam, P. H. Manoj Pandian, and R. Vaithilingam were expelled from the AIADMK. In August 2022, P. Ayyappan of the AIADMK also joined the expelled faction. K. A. Sengottaiyan was expelled from AIADMK in October 2025, and subsequently resigned from his position as a member of the assembly in November 2025. Manoj Pandian resigned as a member of the assembly in November 2025 and joined the DMK, with Vaithilingam following suit in January 2026. In late 2025, the Pattali Makkal Katchi split into two factions, with three members expressing support to Anbumani Ramadoss and two members supporting S. Ramadoss. After Anbumani was recognised as the official leader of the PMK, Ramadoss formed a splinter faction of the PMK. Two members-T. K. Amulkandasami and K. Ponnusamy died on 21 June 2025 and 23 October 2025 respectively.
Parties and alliances
Secular Progressive Alliance
In March 2024, Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam joined the Secular Progressive Alliance. Other parties which formed part of the DMK-led alliance, that won all the 39 seats in the state in the 2024 general election, remained with the alliance.AIADMK-led Alliance
On 25 September 2023, the AIADMK withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the 2024 general election, the AIADMK-led Alliance and the BJP-led NDA contested separately and both did not win any seat in the state. On 11 April 2025, both the parties reunited to form an alliance, with Palaniswami as the chief ministerial candidate.On 7 January 2026, the PMK, led by Anbumani, formally joined the AIADMK-led front. On 21 January 2026, T. T. V. Dhinakaran–led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam joined the alliance.
Others
On 2 February 2024, Vijay announced the formation of his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, stating that it would contest the 2026 elections. In February 2025, All India N.R. Congress, the ruling party in the nearby union territory of Puducherry announced its intention to contest in the Tamil Nadu state elections. In December 2025, Naam Tamilar Katchi announced that it will contest solo across all the constituencies in the state, and release its first list of candidates.Campaign
On 1 June 2025, DMK president and chief minister M. K. Stalin launched 'Oraniyil Tamil Nadu', an enrollment drive to add new party members and urged the party cadres to enroll at least 30% of voters in each polling booth to the party through a door-to-door outreach.On 7 July 2025, AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami launched a statewide campaign with the slogan 'Let's Protect the People, Let's Save Tamil Nadu'.
On 13 September 2025, TVK president Vijay launched his party's election campaign in Tiruchirappalli, with subsequent rallies planed on weekends. However, following a crowd crush that resulted in the deaths of 41 people and injuries to 80-120 others, during a political rally hosted by he TVK in Karur, he suspended the campaign temporarily.
Following an order of the Madras High Court, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced new rules and guidelines for political rallies in the state in January 2026.
Surveys and polls
Opinion polls
| Polling agency | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | Lead | |||
| Polling agency | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | SPA | AIADMK+ | Others | Lead |