Actor-politician Vijay moved closer to forming the next government in Tamil Nadu on Friday after DMK allies the CPI, CPM, and IUML extended support to his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), pushing the fledgling party-led bloc to the edge of the majority mark in a fractured Assembly. However, with the VCK’s letter of support yet to reach the Governor, a question mark hangs on whether there will be a swearing-in ceremony tomorrow.
By evening, Vijay had met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and staked claim to form the government after days of intense negotiations, political reversals and rapidly shifting loyalties that upended the state’s traditional Dravidian order.
The TVK won 108 seats in the Assembly election, emerging as the single largest force in a contest that shattered the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK, which won 59 and 47 seats respectively.
With support from the Congress’s five MLAs and two MLAs each from the CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML, the TVK-led combine’s tally would reach 120 seats, and it was expected that Vijay would be sworn in as Chief Minister on Saturday, around 11 am. But with VCK’s letter yet to reach its intended destination, some uncertainty remains, sources said.
At one stage, discussions inside sections of the anti-DMK bloc even included the possibility of VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan becoming Deputy Chief Minister if he resigned from his Lok Sabha seat and contested a bypoll from Tiruchy East.
The arrangement being discussed reflects the unusual political moment Tamil Nadu has entered. According to leaders familiar with the negotiations, the CPI and CPI(M) have chosen to extend support from outside.
The IUML’s support, meanwhile, appeared linked to a wider political understanding involving the Congress. Leaders familiar with the negotiations said the Congress had reportedly offered the IUML a Cabinet berth in Kerala in return for its support to TVK in Tamil Nadu. IUML leaders, who met DMK chief M K Stalin at his residence before heading to the TVK office, said they had informed the outgoing CM about the situation and he had asked them to facilitate the government formation.
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On Thursday, when TVK leaders visited the IUML office, they were instantly told that support is impossible unless the DMK asks them to do it.
The speed of the realignment was striking. Only a day earlier, Arlekar had asked Vijay to return after demonstrating the support of 118 MLAs, triggering protests by Congress cadres in some places, who accused the Governor of delaying the formation process.
Then the numbers began moving rapidly. At a joint press conference in Chennai on Friday evening, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian and CPI(M) leader P Shanmugam formally announced their support to Vijay. “We will not join the TVK Cabinet; our support will be from the outside,” the two leaders said. “We will continue to travel with the DMK in the struggle to oppose communal forces and protect Tamil Nadu’s rights.”
In its letter to the Governor, the CPI described its support as necessary for a “stable, secular and democratic government.”
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Minutes after the Left parties declared support to TVK, Stalin urged the Governor to initiate steps for forming the new government. The statement marked a notable shift in tone from the confusion and speculation that had consumed Tamil Nadu politics over the past 48 hours, when discussions around a possible DMK-AIADMK arrangement to keep Vijay away from power triggered outrage within sections of the DMK’s own support base and unease among secular allies.
The idea, never formally confirmed but also never firmly denied until Friday morning, appeared to backfire politically. It pushed Left parties and smaller allies toward Vijay, who had campaigned as the anti-establishment alternative to both Dravidian majors.
On Friday, talking to a Malayalam channel, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby confirmed that the mandate was against both the DMK alliance and the AIADMK-NDA combine, and that the single largest party should have been allowed to form the government. He alleged there were moves to install an AIADMK government with outside support from the DMK and its allies, calling such an arrangement politically immoral and against the people’s mandate.
Even as negotiations continued, supporters gathered outside the TVK headquarters and Vijay’s residence in Panayur, chanting slogans and waving party flags. Many were young first-time political volunteers who had entered politics through Vijay’s fan networks rather than traditional cadre structures.
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Amid fears of securing MLAs, the TVK has been closely watching their MLAs sheltered at a resort in Mahabalipuram. Four of the five Congress MLAs had left for a Hyderabad resort on Friday evening. All MLAs of AIADMK, who were staying at a resort in Puducherry, were told to reach Chennai by Saturday noon.
