Will Vijay form government in Tamil Nadu? One question is in focus after the Election Commission declared the results of the 2026 assembly elections. With just two years of political experience, the actor-turned-politician’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) made a historic debut by winning the elections by securing 108 of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
TVK broke the nearly five-decade-old Dravidian rule and emerged as the largest party in the state. Follow live updates on Tamil Nadu government formation
Despite the landslide victory, ‘Thalapathy’s party fell short of the magic figure of 118 seats required to form the government in the state.
First, let’s take a look at the result numbers:
Vijay’s TVK secured 108 seats, including the two seats the party chief had contested from – Perambur and Trichy East. However, within 14 days of the election results being notified, the actor-turned-politician will have to resign from one seat.
The outgoing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-Congress alliance won 73 seats. Of these, DMK got 59 seats and Congress got five seats. Its other allies, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI (Marxist), and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) secured two seats each, while the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) managed to secure just one seat.
Watch Tamil Nadu election results in 3D on HT site
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) got 53 seats, with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) getting 47 seats, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) getting four seats and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMKMNKZ) getting one seat each.
Question on whom Vijay will choose
As the numbers became clear for Vijay’s TVK before the ECI formally announced the results, questions began to arise as to what options Thalapathy had in case he fell short of the majority. it came in the background
These suspicions were based on Vijay’s previous comments, in which he had called the BJP his “ideological rival” and outgoing Chief Minister MK Stalin’s DMK as an “evil force”.
Congress offered conditional support to TVK
Congress on Wednesday… Agreed to support Vijay’s party To form government in Tamil Nadu. But, on one condition.
The Congress said it was ready to support Vijay provided he kept “communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India” out of the alliance.
The party’s statement came in response to TVK’s request for support for Vijay after he fell short of the required 118 seats. The Congress, in a letter, said the people of Tamil Nadu, especially the youth, have given their verdict in favor of a secular, progressive and welfare government that believes in constitutional principles.
The party said it was its “constitutional duty” to respect the mandate of the people in the state, and has decided to extend its full support to TVK to form the government.
Will TVK-Congress numbers be enough?
Unfortunately, for Vijay, the answer is no. TVK also with the support of Congress there will be no majority To form the government. Vijay has 108 seats and Congress has five, totaling 113 seats. But, they are still behind by 5 seats.
Two possible options under discussion
TVK chief Vijay met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Lok Bhavan on Wednesday. Ahead of their meeting, talks surfaced about two possible options offered to Vijay by the Governor.
First, Arlekar could have called Vijay and instructed him to present his majority on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Second, he can ask Vijay to collect letters from supporting parties and hand them over to him.
What happened in Vijay-Governor meeting?
Although TVK chief Vijay met Governor Rajendra Arlekar to stake claim to power, he was not invited to form the next government. Lok Bhavan was seeking legal opinion to ensure that TVK had the majority.
Vijay submitted a list of TVK and Congress MLAs who supported his party, HT had earlier reported. However, Lok Sabha officials said the Governor “wants to be assured” that Vijay has the support of the majority of MLAs.
Read this also Will Vijay form the government? Outgoing Tamil Nadu CM Stalin says, ‘Will wait and see…’
The party’s plan for a grand swearing-in ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on May 7 was delayed due to the Governor’s refusal to invite the TVK chief to form the government.
What does the law say?
If no single party or pre-poll alliance in India crosses the half mark, the Governor usually calls on the largest party to form the government in the state. A scenario that first played out in Maharashtra in 2019.
However, there is no law for such a situation. The Constitution leaves the decision to the Governor.
Legal experts like Vijayan Subramanian, As reported earlier by HT, Said that Arlekar has created “confusion”.
Citing SR Bommai vs. Union of India, he said the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the question of majority should ordinarily be tested only on the floor of the Assembly and not through the personal assessment of the Governor.
Subramaniam said parading an elected leader or personally demonstrating majority before the Governor without a floor test could be contrary to the constitutional principles laid down by the apex court.
Will AIADMK break ties with BJP to support TVK?
After Congress, one of TVK’s top options to gain majority would be AIADMK’s support. However, the party led by Edappadi K Palaniswami made it clear that it would support Vijay’s party in forming the government.
AIADMK said that the party has not supported TVK under any circumstances so far.
AIADMK deputy general secretary KP Munusamy dismissed reports of the party’s support to TVK, calling them “completely false”.
Read this also Tamil Nadu in-charge of Congress says that Vijay-Rahul Gandhi duo could have won us 180-190 seats.
“Under no circumstances will AIADMK support TVK. We are issuing this clarification as per the instructions of our party general secretary (Edappadi K Palaniswami),” news agency PTI quoted Munusamy as saying.
What about Congress allies?
VCK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML and DMDK are all part of the Congress-DMK alliance. With Congress breaking away to support Vijay’s TVK, will other allies, except MK Stalin’s party, of course, support Vijay?
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan said that he and the Left parties had received a letter from Vijay, seeking their support, adding that they would take a “decision later”.
Meanwhile, IUML has given a clear answer. The party has said that it will not support TVK.
IUML chief KM Kader Mohideen said the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), of which it was a part, was not an “electoral alliance” but an ideological alliance.
Mohideen said that even though the SPA has lost the 2026 elections, there is no illusion that “neither the DMK nor the Muslim community will accept defeat because of the defeat.”
He said that their alliance will continue today like yesterday.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) rejected claims of being invited by TVK to form an alliance and said the Left parties are in the DMK-led alliance.
Vijay again met the Governor
On Thursday, TVK chief Vijay once again met Governor Rajendra Arlekar at Lok Bhawan to assure himself of his party’s majority. However, there has been no official statement on what happened during their meeting.
Meanwhile, AIADMK has sought time from the Governor
Amid existing confusion over whether Vijay will be able to form the government in Tamil Nadu, the opposition AIADMK has sought an appointment with the Tamil Nadu Governor. The reason? He remains unknown.
A final look at the numbers
At present, Vijay’s TVK has the support of Congress, but is still far from majority. If we assume that Congress allies may switch sides from the DMK-led alliance, here’s what we might see:
Parties in DMK-led SPA: Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, DMDK.
Congress has taken its five seats in support of Vijay and now TVK has 113 seats.
IUML has not said, indicating that the numbers have remained stable. CPI(M) has also suggested that it will not support Vijay’s party, however, as TVK will not benefit.
VCK’s decision is pending, which suggests it may or may not support Vijay. If VCK says no, TVK will be at a crossroads again. However, if VCK, which won two seats in the elections, says yes to Vijay, his support count will rise to 115. Again, short of a majority, but by a narrow margin.
Although there has been no statement from the DMKDK on whether it will support TVK or TVK, even if it does, Vijay will be two seats short of the required number to form the government.
It remains to be seen whether Vijay will form the government in Tamil Nadu and if so, how it will happen.
(With inputs from S Vijay Karthik)
