Actor-turned-politician “Thalapathy” Vijay on Wednesday (May 6) met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar and staked claim on the government, ending a two-day-long uncertainty over the government formation. This development comes after the Election Commission of India on Monday announced that his newly-formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu election.
The TVK party emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats and secured support from the Congress and several other independent candidates in the state’s political arena.
Political drama covers Tamil Nadu
The Madras State witnessed a high-voltage political drama with parties like the AIADMK and the Congress extending support to Vijay’s camp. A rift in the AIADMK camp was also witnessed, with several leaders openly calling for backing Vijay after the party suffered major electoral setbacks in the 2026 and 2021 assembly elections and the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
With the backing of senior leaders CV Shanmugam and SP Velumani, the leadership considered the possibility of providing outside support to an upcoming potential TVK government rather than joining administration.
However, the possibility of a potential TVK-AIADMK alliance was stalled as Congress came to the scene and sealed its support for the potential TVK government.
Congress extends support
In a statement, the Congress said its support to Vijay’s party would be conditional on “keeping out any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India” from the alliance. Though the party did not name the AIADMK directly, political circles view the remark as an apparent reference to parties previously aligned with the NDA.
The Congress extended its support to Vijay and TVK after the party’s Political Affairs Committee convened by Girish Chodankar called for a meeting. Several top Congress leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, also discussed the evolving political situation in Tamil Nadu during a meeting in New Delhi.
‘Kicking away the ladder you once climbed it’: DMK to Congress
Meanwhile, the DMK lashed out at the Congress over its alleged betrayal. In a post, the party leader, Kanimozhi Somu, wrote, “Abandoning those who trusted them and scrambling for new opportunities is a trait steeped in the very blood of Congress, and this serves as proof. The Congress, which grew strong on the might of the DMK, now seeking to challenge the very DMK itself, is a low-class act of “kicking away the ladder once you’ve climbed it.”
However, as Vijay walked into Raj Bhavan to stake claim with 112 MLAs backing him, the Governor informed the TVK Chief to “come back with 118 to stake the claim.” This has set a fresh round of political scrambling in the state.
Although Vijay secured support from the Congress, which has five legislators, he orally informed the Governor that he had the party’s backing and requested time to shore up his numbers.