Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 8 (ANI): As the stalemate in Tamil Nadu continues, the smaller parties have become the focal point in a state where the power has been transferred from DMK to 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 Congress decided to support TVK with its five seats, other DMK alliance partners are also looking to follow the same path to have their say in the governance.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (CPI) both are separately holding an executive meeting to discuss whether they will withdraw their support to Vijay. Both parties have two MLAs each. Their support will take the TVK alliance tally to 116, just two short of the majority.
Earlier, CPI (M) leader P Shanmugam said that 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, it is 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) is also to 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 Congress, support Vijay then the TVK crosses the majority mark.
Meanwhile, AIADMK leaders continue to arrive at the party’s General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, as the third largest party with 47 seats, look to stitch an alliance. BJP will also hold a consultative meeting regarding the recently concluded elections, 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 comes 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 112. The TVK-led potential coalition still falls six 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 also 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 6 short of a majority.
What is the winning figure in Tamil Nadu elections?
The total number of seats in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is 234. A pre-poll alliance or an individual party needs to win at least 50% + 1 of the total number of seats to prove its majority and form the government. The majority mark for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections is 118.
So, can Vijay form the government in Tamil Nadu with 108 seats?
Vijay’s TVK might have emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats, but it still falls short of the magical 118 seats that it needs for a simple majority. Nevertheless, with support from Congress and other regional parties, TVK can mathematically cross the line and form a coalition government.
Why did CPI(M) and VCK split from the DMK alliance?
The CPI(M) and VCK, realizing that a DMK alliance might leave them in the cold after a hung assembly verdict, are thinking of changing their allegiance to join a TVK-driven government that aims to dismantle the “Dravidian monopoly” of the state. Both parties are playing the “kingmakers” in a hung assembly and trying to gain proportional representation in the state cabinet.
So will the Governor call Vijay to form the TN government?
Under the Indian Constitution, in case of a hung assembly, the Governor has to call the leader of the single largest party, or a pre-poll alliance, to try and form the government. TVK has 108 seats. As such, Vijay is the main contender for the Chief Minister’s position in a hung assembly scenario.
How many seats did the TVK-Congress combine win?
The TVK-Congress alliance garnered a total of 113 seats in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. With Vijay quitting one of the two seats he had contested, the real working number for this alliance is 112 in the state assembly.
