Chennai:Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief “Thalapathy” Joseph Vijayon Wednesday (May 6) met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar and staked claim to form the government in the state. Earlier in the day, five Congress MLAs extended support to the TVK. Vijay's party won 108 seats in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026. For achieving the majority mark, the TVK requires the support of 118 MLAs. After the Congress MLAs decided to go with the TVK, Vijay now has the strength of 113 members, requiring the support of five more members.
While Congress's support brings some stability in the political landscape of the state, the party has placed key conditions for its support. These, as per sources, include a demand for two cabinet berths, along with significant roles such as chairmanships of boards and corporations.
On Tuesday, Vijay had written to Arlekar and sought time to meet him. “I have asked them for elaborate details about the number of candidates who are supporting Vijay. Vote percentage alone is immaterial,” Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar told Times Now. “Vijay has sought time to meet me. I'm yet to give. I'm waiting for additional details from his party's side,” Arlekar had added.
In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, with TVK emerging as the single largest party with 108 seats,. However, Vijay, who contested from two seats -Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East- need to vacate one of the seats, bringing down the effective strength to 107. On Wednesday morning, the Congress had formally announced its full support to the Vijay-led party in forming the next government in Tamil Nadu, ditching its old alliance partner, DMK, in a run for power.
The TVK has reportedly reached out to the VCK, which has two seats. Earlier in the day reports also surfaced that the TVK approached AIADMK General SecretaryEdappadi K Palaniswamifor support. However, a fresh rift appears to be opening up within the AIADMK, as more than 25 party MLAs are said to be backing senior leader C.V. Shanmugam’s push to extend support to Vijay’s TVK.
In his poll debut, the TVK registered a resounding victory by winning 108 seats. outperforming DMK and the AIADMK's years-long duopoly.
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Sumit Sharma is a Deputy News Editor at Times Now with around a decade of experience across print, electronic, and digital media. Previously, he worke...View More
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