TVK crosses majority mark with VCK, IUML support; Vijay turned away by Governor

Vijay later returned home after the Governor allegedly refused to meet him.

The strength of the TVK-led coalition has reportedly crossed the majority mark of 118 after the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which have two MLAs each, extended their support to the party.

Earlier, the Congress with five MLA-elects, CPI(M) with two MLA-elects and CPI with two MLA-elects had backed TVK to form the government.

TVK Shakes Up Tamil Nadu Politics

In its electoral debut, Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam won 108 seats, dramatically disrupting the decades-old bipolar dominance of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

However, TVK initially fell short of the majority mark of 118 seats and had been searching for additional support to form the government.

Traditional Dravidian Parties Suffer Major Setback

The ruling DMK was reduced to 59 seats in the election, while the AIADMK-BJP alliance secured 47 seats, marking a major setback for both traditional Dravidian power centres.

Congress Extends Conditional Support

The Congress offered conditional support to TVK, saying it would back the single largest party provided “communal forces” were kept out of the alliance.