Stalin insulted then; settled score today…V S Babu who defeated CM

CHENNAI: In a stunning upset in Kolathur, the stronghold of M K Stalin, where an expected majority of 75,000 was predicted, the result turned out to be a shocking defeat by 8,795 votes. The spotlight quickly shifted to one question: who is V S Babu, the man who brought down Stalin?

Babu is no stranger to politics--he honed his skills within the DMK itself and was elected to the assembly in 2006 from Purasawalkam. However, he had a personal score to settle with Stalin--and he did just that, decisively defeating him in the electoral arena.

Once a close associate of Stalin, Babu served as the North Chennai district secretary and was also in charge of the Kolathur constituency during the 2011 Assembly elections. Back then, Stalin’s victory margin was a narrow 2,734 votes, which was attributed to Babu’s alleged shortcomings. He was subsequently removed from the district secretary post and replaced by P K Shekar Babu, who had joined DMK from the AIADMK.

Feeling sidelined and humiliated, V S Babu left DMK and joined AIADMK, but even there he did not receive due recognition. Eventually, he joined the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by Vijay. Informing Vijay of his intent to contest from Kolathur, Babu leveraged his deep understanding of DMK’s strategies in the constituency and executed a well-calculated campaign to secure victory.

After confirming his win, Babu even mimicked Stalin’s signature finish gesture, symbolically turning the tables. Speaking to the media, he said, the credit for this victory goes to Thalapathy (Vijay). From here on, everything will be as he directs, he said.