Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 7: In a rare show of unity in politics, a host of political parties – including the DMK, MNM, VCK, and the CPI – have rallied behind actor-turned-politician Vijay, as drama continued to roil Tamil Nadu’s political landscape over 72 hours after the counting of votes from last month’s election delivered an inconclusive verdict.
Reacting to Governor RV Arlekar’s reported refusal to allow the actor-politician’s oath as the chief minister, claiming a lack of the requisite number to form a government, the parties called the action “unacceptable” and “a disrespect” to the mandate.
Superstar actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) thumped all comers on its poll debut, in a state that has voted in a binary for six decades. The party swept 108 of the state’s 234 seats. Dravidian giants DMK and the AIADMK managed less than 100 between them. But in a twist of fate, the TVK finished just short of the 118-seat majority mark, the magic number for a hassle-free government formation process.
With the Congress’s support, the party has so far mustered 113 MLAs — still 5 short of the majority mark. According to reports, the Governor has demanded that Vijay prove his majority before taking the oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Vijay and other parties, however, have argued that his majority should be proven on the floor of the state’s assembly after he becomes the chief minister.
Leading the charge in Vijay’s favour was his fellow actor-politician, Kamal Haasan. He said by not inviting Vijay to form the government, the Governor was “disrespecting the mandate.” “My brother, Mr MK Stalin, has announced, ‘We respect the people’s verdict; we will function as a responsible opposition.’ I respect his political maturity. Those currently in constitutional positions must now fulfil the same duty. This is not a demand, but a reminder of their constitutional obligation,” he wrote on X.
“The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, led by Mr Vijay, has won 108 seats. Not inviting him to form the government would amount to disrespecting the mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu. 233 elected members are still unable to take their oaths. This is an insult to the state; it is damage to democracy,” Haasan, who heads the Makkal Needhi Maiam, posted in Tamil, adding the verdict of the people “must be respected.”
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said that Vijay should be allowed to take the oath. Calling the Governor’s demand “not acceptable”, the politician said Vijay does not have to prove the majority in the Lok Bhavan. “Vijay can prove numbers in the state assembly,” he added.
DMK leader A Sarvanan also backed Vijay’s claim. “If there are no pre-poll alliances that have garnered the majority, then he should go with the single-largest party…And, if there are going to be any post-poll alliances, then that also will come in fourth place. Now, in the state of Tamil Nadu, no pre-poll alliance has the majority. Nobody else has staked a claim to form the government. But the single-largest party, Mr Vijay’s TVK, has staked a claim to form the government and met the governor. And they have given the support of 113 MLAs,” he said.
Veerapandian, the Communist Party of India’s (CPI) Tamil Nadu State Secretary, urged the Governor to allow the TVK to prove its majority on the floor of the house. “In the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election held on April 23 in Tamil Nadu, voters did not deliver a clear mandate enabling any single party to independently form the government. However, the electorate has given Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam 108 seats, making it the single largest party in the Assembly.
“Based on this, TVK leader Vijay has met the Governor and staked a claim to form the government. It is not appropriate for the Governor to insist that TVK prove its majority before the swearing-in ceremony. As the single largest party, TVK must be given an opportunity by the Governor, in accordance with the Constitution, to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly,” he said in a statement.
The BJP, however, said the TVK didn’t have a majority, which it must prove before the Governor. “It’s a fractured verdict, and we all know that TVK did not have a majority, and they have to prove it. If he (Vijay) proves that he has a majority, the Governor will accept it… Whatever is constitutionally applicable will happen,” BJP’s Narayanan Thirupathy said.
According to sources, Vijay visited the Governor’s office on Thursday morning. The Governor asked him how he would form a government with the support of 113 MLAs. TVK said it expected six seats from two Left parties and two regional outfits and that it was ready to face a floor test. The Governor, however, is unconvinced of the TVK’s claim to get enough numbers.
Vijay is reportedly banking on the support of the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), as well as smaller Tamil parties like the VCK (two seats) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (four). However, the VCK is allied with the outgoing DMK, and the PMK with the BJP, ensuring that any post-poll alliance involving these parties will be fraught with internal contradictions.
It initially seemed the TVK – with conditional support from the Congress for its five seats – would stake claim to form the government, and shore up numbers with backing from smaller parties ahead of a floor test. But two rounds of meetings with the Governor has not worked. Vijay was reported asked a series of questions, including how he might run a government with only 113 MLAs. Sources said the meet finished with Arlekar insisting Vijay provide letters of support from 118 legislators. The governor reportedly said Vijay could not take his oath without those letters.
The TVK, meanwhile, has expressed concern over this stand-off, and indicated it retains the right to legal challenges to compel the governor to accept its (at present) minority claim. The party has received support on this point from a Left bloc – Communist Party of India and CPI (Marxist), and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. All three are part of the DMK-led alliance, but have been approached by the TVK over a transfer of seats.
Leaders of the three parties met DMK boss MK Stalin this morning to discuss this transfer and were reportedly given the freedom to decide based on their specific political interests. VCK chief Thirumavalavan said, “We are with Secular Progressive Alliance… but we will discuss in a day or two (on the question of supporting the TVK).” He also urged the governor to accept Vijay’s claim as it stands now, pointing out that an incoming government was required to prove its majority in the House – as the TVK has said it will – and not to the governor.
More significantly, the TVK has also been backed by the DMK; the outgoing majority party called the governor’s “unacceptable” and “a disrespect” to the mandate.
This combination – TVK + Congress + Left + VCK – gives Vijay 119 seats, which will drop to 118 once the actor resigns his Trichy (East) seat. Vijay contested and won from two seats, the other being Perambur in northern Chennai. On paper that is sufficient but Vijay will want a buffer, and that could come from the Pattali Makkal Katchi, which has four seats and is an ally of the BJP. PMK chief Ramadoss hasn’t spoken on this numbers game so far.
The other option is widely regarded as less likely – an alliance between the TVK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the other half of the Dravidian dup that has dominated Tamil Nadu politics for 62 years. There has been talk of rifts in the AIADMK on the Vijay question. The TVK fired ferocious attacks on the DMK and BJP in campaigning for this election, setting up a ‘good vs evil’ narrative with Vijay as the hero. It paid rich dividends. It also dropped the AIADMK into a blind spot, of sorts.
Neither Vijay nor the TVK expressly targeted the larger party. Perhaps as a result of that soft-peddling factions of the AIADMK were ready to ally. Reports this morning said over a dozen – more than enough to carry the TVK over the majority mark – AIADMK legislators were ready to link up, and had shifted to a resort in Puducherry to force the issue.
However, two AIADMK leaders said there would be no alliance, and that any talk of a deal was false. CV Shanmugam and KP Munusamy said whispers surfaced because the party’s messaging had not been clear enough. Vijay, meanwhile, is understood to be reluctant to ally given the AIADMK’s ties with the BJP. Should EPS have a change of heart, the two parties will have over 150 seats between them.
In the given circumstances, the Governor Arlekar, experts indicate, has a handful of options but most circle back to Vijay. One is to invite the largest pre-poll alliance. In this case, that would be the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance with 73 seats. This, however, is seen as a non-starter as the SPA is 45 seats from the majority mark compared to Vijay’s 10.
The second option is to invite the leader of the single largest party – which would be Vijay. The third is to call on a post-poll coalition supported by 118+ incoming MLAs. This will likely be Vijay, again, since the alternative will need to be an alliance of nearly every other party, including the DMK and AIADMK, and the BJP and Congress.
As all of this plays out, Vijay’s 107 new legislators have been sequestered at a resort in the temple town of Mamallapuram, which is around 50km from capital Chennai. The TVK is new to the game but Vijay knows the rules. In a worst-case scenario, assuming neither the TVK nor any other party cannot put together a strong-enough coalition, the governor could suspend the newly-elected Assembly and recommend the centre impose President’s Rule and lead to fresh elections.
The TVK’s insistence that it would prove its majority on the floor of the House is based on a time-tested legal principle that a Governor’s first priority is the formation of a stable government, lest the State slip into a situation of complete breakdown of constitutional machinery, leading to President’s Rule.
Supreme Court precedents have said a Governor cannot refuse to allow the formation of a government once the majority is established. The only exception could be where the Governor is of the view that a stable government may not be formed by the claimants. On the other hand, the court has also noted that a Governor is not expected to wait indefinitely, and in the process, encourage defections or adoption of other objectionable activities.
The Supreme Court and the Sarkaria Commission have highlighted the importance of giving Governors reasonable time to “explore alternatives with political parties, groups and Independents MLAs” to form a stable government. The phrase ‘reasonable time’ is not defined in the Constitution.
