Tamil Nadu Assembly election: AIADMK’s first list of candidates out, no major surprises

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), on Wednesday (March 25, 2026), announced its first list of 23 candidates, which included party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and a host of former Ministers. 

A total of 16 former Ministers, also members of the outgoing Assembly, were re-nominated, and there were hardly any surprises in the list. Barring two candidates, all others have been nominated from their old constituencies. Virudhunagar (West)’s district secretary K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji would return to contest from Sivakasi and Villupuram district secretary C.Ve. Shanmugam would attempt to enter the Assembly from Mailam. In the 2021 Assembly polls, they lost in Rajapalayam and Villupuram respectively. 

The party’s deputy general secretaries K.P. Munusamy and Natham R. Viswanathan have been fielded again from their respective constituencies: Veppannahalli and Natham. The renominated candidates included treasurer Dindigul C. Sreenivasan from Dindigul; headquarters secretary S.P. Velumani from Thondamuthur; and organisation secretaries P. Thangamani, D. Jayakumar, C.Ve. Shanmugam, Sellur K. Raju, K.P. Anbalagan, R. Kamaraj, and O.S. Manian, from Kumarapalayam, Royapuram, Mailam, Madurai (West), Palacode, Nannilam, and Vedaranyam respectively.

Former Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar will try his luck again in Viralimalai, while Kadambur C. Raju, R.B. Udhayakumar, P. Benjamin, Agri S.S. Krishnamoorthy, and V.V. Rajan Chellappa will once again seek to re-enter the House from Kovilpatti, Thirumangalam, Maduravoyal, Kalasapakkam, and Thirupparankundram respectively.

The three other former Ministers – K.C. Karupannan, K.C. Veeramani, and M.R. Vijayabhaskar – will contest from Bhavani, Jolarpet, and Karur, while former government whip in the Assembly, S. Rajendran, has been re-nominated in  Ariyalur. Despite losing the previous election from their respective constituencies, Mr. Jayakumar, Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Veeramani, and Mr. Rajendran have been fielded there again.