Tamil Nadu Elections 2026: AIADMK Fields 23 Candidates, Focus on Familiar Faces

The AIADMK has become the first major Dravidian party to announce candidates for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, releasing a list of 23 nominees. The party has largely trusted familiar faces, with many senior leaders and former ministers asked to recontest from constituencies they have held earlier.

Party general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami will once again fight from Edappadi in Salem district, which remains a stronghold. The decision underlines AIADMK’s strategy of backing well-known leaders in their home bases for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, instead of experimenting with new faces.

Key AIADMK candidates and traditional bastions for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026

Several long-time functionaries feature prominently in the first list for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. KP Munusamy has been fielded from Veppanahalli in Krishnagiri district, while Dindigul C Srinivasan will contest from Dindigul. Veteran legislator Natham R Viswanathan is seeking another term from Natham, continuing a long association with the constituency.

Former minister SP Velumani has been renominated from Thondamuthur, a seat previously represented by Velumani. In Chennai, former minister D Jayakumar returns as candidate from Royapuram in north Chennai. Rajya Sabha MP and former minister C Ve Shanmugam will contest from Mailam in Villupuram district in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Wider candidate spread and core bases in Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026

The list also includes former health minister C Vijayabaskar, who will be in the fray from Viralimalai. P Thangamani has been named for Kumarapalayam, Sellur K Raju for Madurai West, KP Anbalagan for Palacode, R Kamaraj for Nannilam and OS Manian for Vedaranyam in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Kadambur C Raju and RB Udhayakumar have been chosen for Kovilpatti and Thirumangalam, respectively, while KT Rajenthra Bhalaji will contest from Sivakasi. The first list also mentions P Benjamin, SS Krishnamurthy, VV Rajan Chellappa, KC Karuppannan, KC Veeramani, MR Vijayabaskar and Thamarai S Rajendran as candidates for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Key candidate details for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections announced so far are:

Alliance seat-sharing and early start for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026

The AIADMK is heading the National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. As part of seat-sharing, the party has allotted 27 constituencies to the BJP, 18 to the PMK and 11 to the AMMK, keeping the remaining seats for its own nominees.

While AIADMK is the first large Dravidian party to unveil candidates for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the Naam Tamilar Katchi has already named contenders for all 234 constituencies. With the first list out, AIADMK has signalled an early organisational push, anchored around established leaders and familiar constituencies.