CHENNAI: Incumbent Chief Minister MK Stalin suffered a severe blow in Kolathur constituency with a narrow margin loss to a former DMK MLA.

TVK’s joint general secretary VS Babu (75) is a seasoned politician who also served under AIADMK. He served as MLA from Purasawalkam between 2006 and 2011 and was North Chennai district secretary of the DMK until 2011. Once removed from party responsibility after a narrow margin victory by MK Stalin in Kolathur, Babu later joined the AIADMK before moving to TVK. He won Kolathur with 82,997 votes, defeating Stalin by 8,795 votes. After his win, Babu said, “I will maintain integrity in public service. My focus would remain on transparent governance.”