CHENNAI: The AIADMK has officially announced that it has received 10,175 applications of interest from party cadre aspiring to contest in the 2026 Assembly elections.

The party had invited its cadre to submit applications expressing their interest in contesting the elections. The first phase of application submission ran from December 15 to December 23 (9 days).

Subsequently, the party extended the deadline and again accepted applications from December 28 to December 31.

According to the party, a total of 10,175 aspiring cadres submitted their applications at the AIADMK headquarters during both phases.

Of these, 2,187 applications were submitted by cadre proposing AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami as the party's candidate to contest in their respective constituencies.

In an official statement, the party said that the overwhelming response reflects the strong confidence and trust that the cadre have in the leadership of general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Palaniswami instructed district secretaries to submit a list of suitable candidates at a recent district secretaries' meeting, as the next step in the candidate selection process.

The party leadership will verify the recommendations of the district secretaries, after which the final nominees will be selected.