Counting is going on for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on Monday (May 4, 2026). If we look at the trends, they are pointing towards a major political change in the state. In Tamil Nadu, where power was always held by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and AIADMK, today actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay Chandrashekhar’s party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) is going to create history. TVK is leading in 110 out of 234 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.

From the trends, Vijay’s slogan in which he had said – Vijay will come, seems to be coming true. He raised this slogan several times while campaigning for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Now the question in everyone’s mind is that how did Vijay do what superstars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan of the South Film Industry could not do. His fan following is also very strong, so what did Vijay do, due to which he entered the hearts of the people of Tamil Nadu not only as an actor but also as a politician.

Before Vijay, let us talk about Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan and why these actors, who were worshiped like Gods, did not get the love of the people in the elections. Rajinikanth announced his entry into politics in the year 2017, but for years he did not take any concrete steps in this direction. Then he took a step back citing health reasons. At the same time, Kamal Haasan entered politics with complete planning. In the year 2018, he also formed his own party, whose name is Makkal Needhi Mayyam.

Kamal Haasan was seen quite active among the public, but his politics and speeches could not attract people towards him that much. On the other hand, they also lacked workers to work at the grassroots level, due to which they could not make any major electoral impact.

Vijay learned a lot from these mistakes of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan and he gradually worked to establish his hold among the public as a politician. Prepared a strong pitch for years. Vijay worked very intelligently with his fan club – Vijay Makkal Iyakkam. These fans of his club have been engaged in social work like blood donation, free food distribution and disaster relief for years.

Vijay also kept focus on youth and students. He started a large-scale program to honor the state’s board exam toppers, where in his speech he appealed to the students not to take money to vote. In this way his image became good in the middle class and people who were fans of his acting accepted him as a politician also.

TVK’s manifesto also focuses on youth, women and fishermen. The party believes that these three sections can change the course of the elections. The party also announced for the first time a first-of-its-kind Minimum Support Price (MSP) for eight types of fish varieties, under which relief amount of Rs 27,000, subsidized diesel, insurance coverage and accommodation facilities will be provided during the fishing ban.

TVK also offered unsecured education loan up to Rs 25 lakh for class 12th to higher education including PhD programmes. Many announcements were also made for women, such as six free LPG cylinders annually, increase in monthly financial assistance from Rs 1000 to Rs 2500 and providing up to eight grams of gold under marriage assistance schemes. It seems that Vijay has managed to understand the pulse of Tamil Nadu.

Election Results 2026: Today is a very important day for the country’s politics because on May 4, the assembly election results of five states (West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry) will be declared simultaneously (Election Result 2026).

At present the counting of votes is going on. People are keeping an eye on the trends and updates coming every moment. In such a situation, now the question arises that who counts the votes given by you? Come, amid the results of the assembly elections, let us tell you who is counting your votes and how much salary do they get for this work?

Who counts the votes?

Counting of votes in elections in India is done under the supervision of the Returning Officer (RO) appointed by the Election Commission of India. Along with the Returning Officer, Assistant Returning Officer (ARO), Counting Supervisor, Counting Assistant and Micro Observer complete the process of counting.

All of them together count your votes.

• The Returning Officer (RO) is usually the DM (District Magistrate) of the district or a senior administrative officer (IAS/IPS). They are responsible for counting the votes.
• One or more AROs are appointed to assist the Returning Officer. These are usually SDM or Tehsildar level officers.
• During counting of votes, the counting supervisor is the head of the counting table, who is usually a Gazetted Officer of the Central or State Government.
• There are one or two counting assistants at each table to assist the supervisor, who count the EVM and ballot paper votes.
• Micro Observers are central government employees appointed by the Election Commission, who monitor the observance of rules and complete transparency at the table.

How much is the salary?

Officials working in elections get paid in two ways – their regular salary and additional honorarium given by the Election Commission.

Returning Officer Salary: Their monthly salary ranges between Rs 78,800-2,25,000. (As per Level 1 to Level 14 of 7th Pay Commission).

Salary of Assistant Returning Officer: Their monthly salary ranges between Rs 56,100-1,77,500 (Level 10 or 11 of the 7th Pay Commission).

Additional honorarium given by the Election Commission

• As per the guidelines of the Election Commission, senior officers like DEO/RO/ARO are given a lump sum honorarium equal to at least one month’s basic salary.
• The counting supervisor is paid a lump sum of around Rs 1,500-1,850 (including training and duty allowance) for counting duties. Apart from this, they also get food allowance.
• Micro observers are paid around Rs 1,000-1,200 including duties and training.

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