Tamil Nadu Congress receives over 5,200 applications from ticket aspirants for Assembly elections

All India Congress Committee (AICC) senior leader T.S. Singh Deo, who is heading the screening committee for selection of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, on Monday (January 20, 2026), said the party has received almost 5,285 applications from ticket aspirants in Tamil Nadu and 800 applications in Puducherry.

Mr. Deo told journalists in Chennai the committee would report to the central election committee and views of the respective Pradesh Congress Committee presidents will be taken into account.

“Once the Pradesh election committee is formed, it will provide recommendations to the screening committee. The screening committee will report to the Central election committee. We have also suggested that the process (of screening) be taken to the block and district level. We will be meeting as many people as possible – not just from applicants but also those who want to support others (aspirants),” he said.

Mr. Deo did not want to comment on speculation whether Congress would form an alliance with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and added the INDIA bloc will win big in the upcoming elections. He mentioned that aspirants coming together to support some other candidate would be “healthy”.

The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee announced on Sunday (January 18) its long pending appointment of District Congress Committee presidents (for 71 DCCs) in Tamil Nadu as a part of Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan.

“Under this initiative, AICC Observers assigned to each district conducted detailed reviews, engaged with party functionaries and other stakeholders, and submitted their comprehensive reports. Following the submission of these reports, one-to-one discussions were held with each Observer, as well as with senior leaders,” he said.