Joseph Vijay Election Victory: Four election petitions have been filed before the Madras High Court challenging the electoral victory of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief
Joseph Vijay from the Perambur Assembly constituency.
Two of the petitions have been filed by Vijay’s defeated rivals in the 2026 Assembly elections – DMK leaders RD Shekar, who contested from Perambur, and Indigo Irudayaraj, who contested from Tiruchirappalli East. The other two petitions have been filed by voters TN Lakshmi Narasimhan and S Dinesh, Bar & Bench reported.
Sources told the news outlet that Irudayaraj has also sought a stay on the proposed by-election in Tiruchirappalli East.
Vijay had contested the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from both Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East. After winning both seats, he retained Perambur and vacated the Tiruchirappalli East constituency, necessitating a by-election.
According to the Election Commission of India, Vijay won Perambur with 1,20,365 votes, defeating Shekar, who secured 66,650 votes, by a margin of 53,715 votes.
The petitions place Vijay’s Perambur election under judicial scrutiny. Under election law, an election petition is the statutory mechanism to challenge the election of a returned candidate and is tried by the High Court. However, the filing of such petitions does not affect the returned candidate’s position unless the court sets aside the election after trial.
Vijay’s victory from Perambur marked his electoral debut after entering politics through TVK. The party, launched by Vijay in February 2024, made its first Assembly election appearance in 2026 and emerged as one of the State’s key political forces.
The petitions come amid an ongoing political controversy over alleged attempts to poach TVK legislators. TVK MLA N Ilaiyaraja recently alleged that he was offered Rs 35 crore to influence his vote against the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
The allegation led to police action, with three persons initially arrested. Later reports said five more persons were taken into custody in connection with the alleged poaching attempt.
Vijay and TVK have also faced a series of election-related proceedings before the Madras High Court since the Assembly polls.
The Court had earlier dismissed pleas alleging irregularities in election affidavits filed by Vijay and other leaders. It had also dealt with petitions raising allegations over Vijay’s Form 26 disclosures, alleged income suppression and TVK’s campaign practices.
