Tamil Nadu, 2026. 4,023 candidates from 104 parties contested 234 seats; 12 parties won at least one.
Parties contesting
104
2026 · 12 of them won a seat
Largest party
108seats
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam · 35.07% of votes
Deposits lost
83.32%
3,352 of 4,023 candidates
Effective parties
4.3
By vote share · lower means more dominant
Candidates per seat
17.2
4,023 for 234 declared seats
[02]Vote share against seat share
2026 · bar is vote share, marker is seat share
First-past-the-post rarely pays out in proportion. The bar is the share of votes a
party won; the marker is the share of seats it took. A marker to the right of its
bar means the system paid the party more seats than its votes alone would buy.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazha…
35.07%108 seats · +11.09 pts
Dravida Munnetra Kazh…
24.28%59 seats · +0.93 pts
All India Anna Dravid…
21.3%47 seats · -1.21 pts
Indian National Congr…
3.38%5 seats · -1.25 pts
Pattali Makkal Katchi
2.18%4 seats · -0.47 pts
Viduthalai Chiruthaig…
1.1%2 seats · -0.24 pts
Communist Party of In…
0.67%2 seats · +0.19 pts
Communist Party of In…
0.6%2 seats · +0.26 pts
Indian Union Muslim L…
0.29%2 seats · +0.57 pts
Bharatiya Janta Party
2.99%1 seat · -2.56 pts
Desiya Murpokku Dravi…
1.2%1 seat · -0.77 pts
Amma Makkal Munnettra…
0.87%1 seat · -0.44 pts
Naam Tamilar Katchi
4.02%0 seats · -4.02 pts
Independent
1.07%0 seats · -1.07 pts
[03]Strike rate — candidates who won
2026 · parties fielding 5 or more
Tamilaga Vettri Kazha…
46.35%108/233
Communist Party of In…
40.0%2/5
Communist Party of In…
40.0%2/5
Dravida Munnetra Kazh…
33.52%59/176
All India Anna Dravid…
27.33%47/172
Viduthalai Chiruthaig…
25.0%2/8
Pattali Makkal Katchi
22.22%4/18
Indian National Congr…
17.86%5/28
Desiya Murpokku Dravi…
10.0%1/10
Amma Makkal Munnettra…
9.09%1/11
[04]Deposits lost
Candidates under a sixth of the valid vote · newest first
2026
83.32%3,352 of 4,023
2021
87.99%3,518 of 3,998
2016
86.69%3,231 of 3,727
2011
82.61%2,270 of 2,748
2006
81.28%2,102 of 2,586
2001
73.98%1,376 of 1,860
1996
89.95%4,513 of 5,017
1991
82.43%2,336 of 2,834
1989
79.02%2,407 of 3,046
1984
67.85%1,017 of 1,499
[05]How crowded the ballot got
Candidates per seat · newest first
2026
17.24,023 candidates
2021
17.13,998 candidates
2016
16.13,727 candidates
2011
11.72,748 candidates
2006
11.12,586 candidates
2001
8.01,860 candidates
1996
21.45,017 candidates
1991
12.12,834 candidates
1989
13.03,046 candidates
1984
6.41,499 candidates
[06]Independents
Candidates standing without a party · newest first
2026
2,2090 won
2021
2,0730 won
2016
1,5470 won
2011
1,5040 won
2006
1,2221 won
2001
9783 won
1996
3,8571 won
1991
1,7711 won
1989
2,1245 won
1984
9944 won
[07]Computed insights
Arithmetic over the table above, not commentary
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam took 46.15% of the seats on 35.07% of the votes — a seat bonus of +11.09 pts.
seat share 46.15 - vote share 35.07
Naam Tamilar Katchi went the other way: 4.02% of votes returned only 0.0% of seats.
seat share 0.0 - vote share 4.02
83.32% of candidates lost their deposit in 2026 — 3,352 of 4,023 polled under a sixth of the valid vote.
3352/4023 below the one-sixth threshold
2,209 independents stood and 0 won — a strike rate of 0.0%.
0/2209 independents
The field has grown more fragmented since 1962: the effective number of parties moved from 3.3 to 4.3.