M.K. Stalin, president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has petitioned the Madras High Court to challenge his election defeat in Kolathur [1].
The legal move targets the integrity of the vote count in a key assembly constituency. If the court grants the request, it could set a precedent for how electronic voting machine (EVM) discrepancies are handled in the region.
Stalin, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, filed the petition seeking a full recount of the votes [1]. The filing specifically requests the verification of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips against the votes recorded by the EVMs [1].
The petition follows a loss to V.S. Babu, a candidate from the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) [2]. According to reports, Stalin was defeated by a margin of 8,795 votes [4].
In the court documents, Stalin alleges that possible EVM malfunctions may have occurred during the polling process [1]. He said that the verification of VVPAT slips is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the final count [1].
The Madras High Court in Chennai now holds the authority to decide if the requested audit will proceed. This process involves matching the physical paper slips printed by the machines during voting with the digital totals announced by the election commission [1].
The dispute centers on the Kolathur Assembly constituency, where the tension between the established DMK and the TVK has intensified following the election results [2].
“M.K. Stalin has petitioned the Madras High Court to challenge his election defeat in Kolathur.”
This challenge highlights the ongoing friction between traditional political powers and emerging parties in Tamil Nadu. By questioning the EVM results through the judiciary, the DMK is testing the legal threshold required to trigger a manual VVPAT audit, which remains a contentious issue in Indian electoral law.
