As the stalemate in Tamil Nadu continues, the smaller parties have become the focal point in a state where power in the past has been held by the DMK or the AIADMK. The cinematic entrance of actor-turned-politician Vijay, with a mandate of 108 seats, has changed all equations in the state as the parties look to form new alliances, ditching their reliable partners.
After the Congress decided to support TVK with its five seats, other DMK alliance partners are also looking to follow the same path to have a say in governance. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) are holding executive meetings to discuss whether to extend support to Vijay. Both parties have two MLAs each. Their support will take the TVK alliance tally to 117, just one short of the majority.
Earlier, CPI (M) leader P Shanmugam said his party has received a letter from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay, on which discussion will be held in the party's state committee meeting.
"TVK Chief sent a letter to our party. Our State Committee meeting will be held tomorrow morning; we will make our decision in it," said Shanmugam"
According to the Constitution, the TVK that should be allowed to form the government. We have never seen a situation like this in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, and now we have a hung Assembly. It is the Governor who should invite Vijay to form the government because he is leading," Shanmugam said.
VCK (Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi) will also convene a meeting of its high-level committee this evening; VCK, formally part of the DMK alliance, won two seats in the state assembly elections. If all three parties, along with the Congress, support Vijay then the TVK crosses the majority mark.
Meanwhile, AIADMK, as the third largest party with 47 seats, looks to stitch an alliance. BJP will also hold a consultative meeting, which will be held under the leadership of Tamil Nadu BJP State President Nainar Nagendran at Kamalalayam, the Tamil Nadu BJP state headquarters. The series of meetings come amid intense political deliberations following the hung verdict in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
TVK won 108 seats in the Assembly elections, while Congress won five, taking the tally of the newly brewing alliance to 113. The TVK-led potential coalition still falls five short of the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member Assembly. TVK stunned the 'Dravidian' parties in the State, bringing to an end the DMK-AIADMK three-decade-old 'duopoly'. With Vijay to step down from one of the two seats he won in the assembly polls, the effective strength of TVK in the assembly will become 107, and along with the Congress, the alliance has 112 members, just 5 short of a majority.
Published on May 8, 2026