NEW DELHI: The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor-turned-politician Vijay, has successfully secured the numbers required to form the government in Tamil Nadu after days of intense political uncertainty, strategic negotiations, and shifting alliance equations following a hung assembly verdict. The breakthrough came after the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Communist Party of India (CPI), and Communist Party of India (Marxist) formally extended their support to TVK, enabling the party to cross the crucial majority mark in the 234-member Assembly.
The Path to Majority
TVK emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats but initially fell short of the majority mark. The challenge became steeper after Vijay decided to vacate one of the two seats he had won, reducing the party's effective tally to 107. With the support of Congress, VCK, CPI, and CPM, the alliance finally crossed the majority mark with 118 MLAs.
Final Tally
- TVK: 107
- Congress: 5
- VCK: 2
- CPI: 2
- CPM: 2
How TVK Achieved the Numbers
Congress, which was quick to break away from the DMK, was the first to extend support to TVK with its five MLAs, taking the alliance tally to 112. However, the coalition still remained short of the 118 seats required to form the government, triggering a political stalemate and putting the spotlight firmly on smaller regional and Left parties. As uncertainty gripped the state's political landscape, parties that had long remained within the DMK-led alliance began reconsidering their positions in light of TVK's emergence as the dominant force in the assembly.
The VCK, which secured two seats, convened a high-level committee meeting before deciding to back Vijay. Likewise, both CPI and CPM also moved toward supporting TVK following internal executive meetings and outreach from Vijay's camp. Earlier, CPM state leader P Shanmugam had confirmed receiving a formal letter from Vijay seeking support. He argued that constitutional convention favoured inviting the single largest party to form the government in a hung assembly.
Historic Political Shift
TVK's successful push to the majority mark marks a historic political moment in Tamil Nadu, effectively ending the decades-old DMK-AIADMK dominance and signalling the arrival of a new political force at the centre of the state's politics. This development is seen as a significant shift in the state's political landscape, with implications for future elections and governance.
