At least 126 candidates who secured a victory in the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections have criminal cases pending against them, according to a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Tamil Nadu Election Watch (TNEW) on Saturday (May 9, 2026), which analysed the criminal, financial, and educational backgrounds, the gender, and other details of the winning nominees. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) topped the list, with 41 MLAs-elect from the party declaring that they have criminal cases pending against them.
The report by ADR and TNEW, which analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 233 of the 234 winning candidates in the 2026 Assembly election, said that at least 56 of those who won have declared that they have serious criminal cases against them. The report stated that TVK candidate T. Arunkumar was not analysed due to an unclear affidavit uploaded on the Election Commission of India (ECI) portal.
