Entering fray: DMK President and Chief Minister MK Stalin will file his nomination in Chennai on Monday (March 30, 2026). | Photo credit: SR Raghunathan
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay were among the leaders who filed nominations on Monday (March 30, 2026), after the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the official notification for the April 23 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Stalin submitted his documents to the Returning Officer for Kolathur constituency. Senior DMK leader and minister PK Sekarbabu and senior advocates R. Shunmugasundaram, R. Viduthalai and NR Elango accompanied Mr. Stalin.
Mr. Vijay, who is making his debut in electoral politics, has filed his nomination for Perambur. DMK general secretary and minister KN Nehru filed nomination for Tiruchi West and TVK leader KA Sengottaiyan for Gobichettipalayam.
Naam Tamilar leader Katchi Seeman filed nomination for Karaikudi.
As of 8:45 PM on Monday, details of over 560 nominations (some candidates have filed multiple nominations) have been uploaded to the ECI portal.
Officials trained in duties
An official statement from Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik said a total of 3,32,231 officials were trained in subjects related to duties, roles and responsibilities of presiding officers and election officers.
The ECI increased the remuneration of presiding officers, election officials, counting staff and micro-observers. The remuneration for the Chairman was revised from ₹1,700 to ₹3,000 and that of the Election Officer was increased from ₹1,300 to ₹2,600. It has been revised from ₹850 to ₹1,500 for Counting Supervisor, from ₹650 to ₹1,400 for Assistant Counting Officer and from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 for Micro-Observer.
‘More Support’
After filing his nomination, Mr. Stalin said he witnessed more support than in the previous three elections he had won in Kolathur. “It is a battle between Tamil Nadu and Delhi. It will be a big victory to save Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Later, interacting with the alliance partners at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, Mr. Stalin said that the DMK-led alliance was not a new formation but one that had already contested two Lok Sabha elections, an assembly election, a local body election and a by-election. “It is a mega alliance. Nowhere in India has such an alliance continued for so many years. Now several other parties have joined our alliance,” he said.
Published – 30 March 2026 21:25 IST
