The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Wednesday announced its first list of 23 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held on April 23, 2026.
The list was released by party General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who has also been fielded as a candidate.
In a statement, Palaniswami said the names were finalised after discussions within the party’s governing council and represent AIADMK’s official candidates for the upcoming polls.
The first list includes several prominent leaders. K P Munusamy will contest from Veppanahalli, Dindigul C Srinivasan from Dindigul, Natham R Viswanathan from Natham, S P Velumani from Thondamuthur, and D Jayakumar from Royapuram.
The party has also fielded senior leaders such as P Balakrishna from Krishnagiri, C V Shanmugam from Hosur, S K Rajendran from Maduranthakam, K P Anbazhagan from Palacode, R K Nagaraj from Pennagaram, and O S Manian from Velur.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has also firmed up its seat-sharing arrangement.
However, Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Tuesday announced that his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), will not contest the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Instead, the party will extend unconditional support to the DMK-led alliance, citing larger political priorities and the interests of the state.
Addressing party workers and the media, Haasan said the decision was taken after careful consideration and is in line with MNM’s stance during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when it had backed the DMK-led alliance “in the interest of the nation.”
The DMK is yet to announce their list of the candidates.
The main contest is expected between the ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) and the AIADMK-led NDA, which is aiming to unseat the incumbent government.
Tamil Nadu will go to polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting scheduled for May 4. The term of the current 234-member Assembly ends on May 10.
