Actor-turned-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has emerged as the most preferred party among educated voters of Tamil Nadu, according to an Axis My India exit poll for the 2026 Assembly elections.
The survey shows TVK — contesting its first-ever assembly election — has matched the DMK with a 35% overall vote share each, while AIADMK trails at 23%, followed by Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) at 3% and others at 4%.
Education-wise vote share data released on Wednesday shows a sharp class divide in the state's electoral arithmetic, one that neither the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) nor the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has managed to bridge.
Among voters with no formal schooling, TVK polls at just 24%, well behind DMK's 41% and AIADMK's 29%.
However, as education levels rise, the trend shows a sharp reversal. Among graduates, TVK surges to 46% — its highest share — against DMK's 28% and AIADMK's 18%. Among post-graduates, TVK stands at 38% versus DMK's 32%.
Most strikingly, among voters with professional degrees, TVK dominates with 51%, while DMK and AIADMK's vote share slides to 28% and 13% respectively.
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Underscoring this new phenomenon, the swing figures, measured against the 2021 assembly election results, show a +51 swing for TVK among professional degree holders and a +46 swing among graduates — numbers that reflect a party capturing an entire demographic from scratch.
In contrast, DMK has lost support across every education category, with swings ranging from -8 to -20, while AIADMK has suffered even steeper losses among educated voters, plunging by as much as -26 points among graduates.
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The data suggests TVK's appeal is disproportionately concentrated among urban, educated, first-time, and young voters — the demographic that has historically driven electoral upsets in Tamil Nadu. Whether that translates into seats, however, depends on how geographically spread the support is, since India's first-past-the-post system rewards concentration over reach.
Tamil Nadu has 234 assembly seats, with 118 required for a majority. Counting is scheduled for May 4.
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