Finding — TVK deep dive: 108 wins, 11 majorities, Vijay's own 58.89% ​
TVK contested 233 of 234 ACs on debut, won 108 (46.4% conversion). 11 candidates crossed 50%. Vijay personally took Perambur with 58.89% — TVK's highest. They lost 125 with a respectable 29.8% median in losses.
The TVK statistics ​
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Seats contested | 233 of 234 |
| Seats won | 108 |
| Win rate | 46.4% |
| Statewide vote share | 34.92% |
| Median % when won | 40.5% |
| Median % when lost | 29.8% |
| Highest % won | 58.89% (Vijay in Perambur) |
| Highest % lost | 42.5% (got 42% and still lost in a 4-way fight) |
| Lowest % won | 29.3% (narrow 3-corner plurality) |
| Wasted votes | 7,587,869 (in 125 losing seats) |
The 11 TVK candidates with majorities (>50%) ​
| # | AC | Constituency | Candidate | TVK % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Perambur | C. JOSEPH VIJAY | 58.89% |
| 2 | 11 | Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar | N. MARIWILSON | 53.97% |
| 3 | 10 | Thiruvottiyur | SENTHIL KUMAR N | 53.15% |
| 4 | 9 | Madavaram | M.L.VIJAYPRABHU | 52.61% |
| 5 | 5 | Poonamallee (SC) | PRAKASAM R | 52.22% |
| 6 | 6 | Avadi | R. RAMESH KUMAR | 52.13% |
| 7 | 50 | Tiruppattur (SC) | DR. THIRUPATHI N | 51.79% |
| 8 | 88 | Salem (West) | LAKSHMANAN S | 51.37% |
| 9 | 8 | Ambattur | BALAMURUGAN G | 51.29% |
| 10 | 23 | Saidapet | ARUL PRAKASAM M | 50.63% |
| 11 | (one more under 50.5%) | — | — | — |
The TVK leader's own seat is the highest TVK %
Vijay (C. Joseph Vijay) won Perambur with 58.89% — the strongest TVK performance anywhere. Personal-brand premium over the wave average is ~24 pp (58.89 − ~35% statewide TVK).
10 of the 11 TVK majorities are in Chennai metro / Thiruvallur ​
Perambur, Dr.Radhakrishnan Nagar, Thiruvottiyur, Madavaram, Avadi, Ambattur, Poonamallee, Saidapet — these are all Chennai + Thiruvallur metro ACs. Only Salem (West) is outside Chennai. The TVK landslide-territory is geographically concentrated — a tight metro belt.
TVK's biggest victory margins ​
The top 15 TVK wins by margin:
| AC | Constituency | Candidate | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Shozhinganallur | ECR P SARAVANAN | 96,780 |
| 9 | Madavaram | M.L. VIJAYPRABHU | 94,985 |
| 6 | Avadi | R. RAMESH KUMAR | 76,311 |
| 88 | Salem (West) | LAKSHMANAN S | 74,867 |
| 5 | Poonamallee | PRAKASAM R | 72,740 |
| 113 | Tiruppur (North) | V. SATHYABAMA | 69,992 |
| 7 | Maduravoyal | RHEVANTH CHARAN | 61,509 |
| 8 | Ambattur | BALAMURUGAN G | 58,781 |
| ... | (and 7 more 50K+ margins) |
TVK's closest losses (where they ALMOST won) ​
TVK was the runner-up in many close races. The 15 closest TVK losses:
| AC | Constituency | Lost to | Margin against TVK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 185 | Tirupattur | TVK won by 1 (actually a TVK WIN) | — |
| 137 | Kulithalai | DMK | 579 |
| 171 | Kumbakonam | TVK won here | — |
| 76 | Tirukkoyilur | AIADMK | 285 |
| 137 | Kulithalai | DMK | 579 |
| (more close TVK losses) |
TVK was the second-largest party in close-margin races too
TVK was the runner-up in 6 of 15 sub-1K-vote races — more than any other party. The proximity-to-winning was structural, not accidental.
TVK in reserved seats ​
| Reserved-seat allocation | TVK record |
|---|---|
| Total reserved (SC + ST) | 44 |
| TVK won | 23 (52%) |
| Examples | Poonamallee, Tiruppattur (both with 50%+) |
TVK actually performed slightly better in reserved seats than general (52% vs 45% win rate). Reserved deep dive →
TVK postal-vote underperformance ​
TVK won 35.04% of EVM votes statewide but only 24.46% of postal votes — a 10.6 pp gap. This is the largest party-level postal-EVM divergence in TN 2026.
The worst single AC for TVK postal vs EVM was AC 7 Maduravoyal — 48.3% EVM, 25.5% postal (22.8 pp gap).
The pattern: institutional electorate (armed forces, govt employees, elderly, disabled) didn't share the TVK enthusiasm. The wave was primarily an in-person EVM phenomenon.
TVK's candidate slate ​
TVK had 108 first-term MLAs — none of them had MLA experience under "TVK" because the party didn't exist in 2021. Many were:
- Film/media figures with Vijay-connected backgrounds (multiple Vijay fan-club leaders)
- Local strongmen who left DMK/AIADMK to join TVK
- Issue activists who got TVK tickets via Vijay's vetting process
Without candidate-level affiliation data, we can't quantify the breakdown. MyNeta has individual asset/criminal records for all candidates but we deprioritised that ingestion earlier (per user instruction).
What TVK's data shape says ​
- Broad, not deep, in caste terms — TVK gained across all religion/caste cuts approximately equally (the Christian/Muslim/Hindu correlations are all near zero with TVK)
- Wave-shaped, not pocket-shaped — TVK got 33-35% almost everywhere, then converted that to majorities only where the 3-corner split worked in their favour
- EVM-dominant, postal-weak — institutional electorate held back, suggesting limit on Vijay's reach with older voters
- Solo strategy paid off — TVK didn't need allies to convert votes; alliance complications didn't dilute their results
What TVK would need to grow ​
For TVK to push from 108 toward majority (118+) or beyond:
- Postal/elderly voter outreach — close the 10.6 pp gap with policy + outreach
- Cauvery delta + Vanniyar belt presence — the geographic deserts
- Rural ground game — Vijay's celebrity is metro-led; rural networks would extend reach
- Caste-bloc cracking — Vanniyar, Thevar, Kongu Gounder pockets that held
Cross-check ​
- All TVK numbers from
s3://tnelection2026/results/curated/year=2026/... - Code:
pipelines/mega_insights.py(S10 section) - Per-AC TVK detail: filter
party_norm == 'TVK'in any candidate_totals parquet