Summary of this article
TVK’s candidate list includes former members of the BJP, AIADMK and Congress, with A.K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar fielded from Thirubhuvanai.
The BJP, allied with the All India N.R. Congress, has released its first list of nine candidates.
TVK also plans to contest the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections alone, with Vijay ruling out alliances and stressing a commitment to secular politics.
The Union Territory will vote on April 9, with counting scheduled for May 9.
Vijay announced the full list of candidates on 22 March 2026. Among them, A.K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar, who recently left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will contest the reserved Thirubhuvanai seat after being denied a ticket for Oussudu.
Other key candidates include V. Saminathan (Lawspet), K.A.U. Asana (Karaikal South), L. Periyasamy (Nettapakkam), J. Prakash Kumar (Muthialpet), N. Dhanavelu (Bahour), V.J. Chandran (Raj Bhavan), S. Siva (Oupalam), S. Sasibalan (Ozhukarai), and S. Kumaravelu (Ariyankuppam).
Former AIADMK legislators K.A.U. Asana and L. Periyasamy will contest Karaikal South and Nettapakkam respectively. V. Saminathan, a former BJP Puducherry unit president, will stand in Lawspet. Other notable names include former Deputy Inspector General V.J. Chandran and former Congress legislator N. Dhanavelu.
Meanwhile, the BJP, currently allied with the All India N.R. Congress, released its first list of nine candidates on March 21.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the AINRC won 10 seats to emerge as the largest party, followed by the DMK with six seats, while both the BJP and Congress secured six each.
Separately, TVK confirmed it will also contest the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections independently, ruling out alliances with the BJP or AIADMK. Vijay said the party aims to form a government on its own, with no compromise on its secular principles.
Additional candidates include B. Ramu (Manavely), R. Ramesh (Villianur), N. Manibalan (Mudaliarpet), K. Bharathidasan (Mannadipet), S. Maria Francis (Orleanpet), M.K. Sathya (Mangalam), R. Suman (Kamaraj Nagar), S. Vigneshwaran (Nellithope), D. Sasikumar (Kalapet), S. Murugan (Indira Nagar), R. Jayanthi (Kadirkamam), S. Saravanabava (Oussudu), M. Panneerselvam (Thattanchavady), V. Tamilselvan (Embalam), U. Kamaraj (Nedungadu), A. Raja Mohamad (Thirunallar), A. Venkatesh (Karaikal North), G. Ganesh (Neravy–T.R. Pattinam), M. Brijesh (Mahe), and A. Thotta Raju (Yanam).
