Vijay’s road to power now runs through this political party after Congress backing

TAmil Nadu’s post-election political roil has turned around Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief chief joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar. After decades of a two- company tug-of-war betwixt the DMK and AIADMK, the actor-turned-politician and his young party now sit at the centre of government-formation talks but still falls short of a clear majority in a hung Assembly.TVK was the single largest party in the 234-member House. It won 108 seats in the Assembly elections 2026. The majority mark is 118. DMK won 59 seats while the AIADMK secured 47.Smaller parties including PMK with four seats, IUML, CPI, VCK and CPI(M) with two seats each, along with others, completed the fragmented mandate.A boost from CongressThe first major breakthrough for Vijay came on Wednesday when the Congress officially declared its support. Moving away from its long-term ally, the DMK, the Congress brought its 5 MLAs to the TVK fold.AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar said the support is conditional. “Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India,” he said.With Congress on board, Vijay’s tally stands at 113. He still needs five more legislators to secure a stable government. The VCK stumbling blockVijay is now looking towards the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), led by Thol Thirumavalavan. The VCK holds two crucial seats, but despite the TVK's outreach, the party remains undecided.“It will be decided by our party president, Thol Thirumavalavan,” a senior VCK functionary said. The hesitation comes as other DMK allies, the Left parties (CPI and CPI-M) and the IUML, have already met with DMK chief MK Stalin to press home their loyalty to the old alliance.CPI(M) candidates R Chellaswamy and Latha, CPI members T Ramachandran and Marimuthu, and IUML MLAs-elect Syed Farooq Basha SSB and A M Shahjahan all met Stalin and later claimed continued support for the DMK. So even as TVK builds its numbers, the DMK appears to be holding together its remaining alliance structure in the Assembly.Vijay stakes claim to governmentDespite the narrow gap, Vijay met with governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Wednesday to stake his claim to form the government. Accompanied by top party aides like “Bussy” N Anand and Aadhav Arjuna, Vijay is moving forward with the momentum of a “chief minister-designate.”While the Governor evaluates the numbers, TVK sources suggest a swearing-in ceremony could happen as early as this week.Vijay contested the state elections from two constituencies, Trichy East and Perambur. He won both. He will now have to vacate one of the seats, and if that happens, a bypoll will be held in the constituency he gives up.(With inputs from PTI and ANI)