Tamil Nadu Govt Formation LIVE: Vijay's TVK reaches out to Congress for possible alliance talks

DMK president M K Stalin on Tuesday resigned as Tamil Nadu chief minister, PTI reported, citing party sources. His resignation letter has been sent to the office of Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the sources added. The DMK was defeated in the April 23 Assembly elections by the Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Read the full story here. 

Tamil Nadu Congress will hold a key legislature party meeting today at 1:30 PM, where the party’s future strategy will be discussed in detail. A major point of discussion is expected to be whether the party should extend support to Vijay’s TVK or not. According to sources, TVK has already reached out to the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress to explore the possibility of support.

(Reported by Vijay Laxmi) 

Scenario 1: DMK-aligned smaller parties join TVK to form a coalition government
In the first and most straightforward option, TVK is considering stitching together support from smaller allies traditionally aligned with the DMK camp.

Potential composition:

TVK: 108
Congress: 5
Left parties: 4
IUML: 2
VCK: 2
Under this arrangement, smaller regional and ideological partners would provide the crucial numbers needed to cross the majority threshold, enabling a coalition government led by TVK with a broader alliance base. According to party sources, TVK has begun talks with the Congress, PMK, and Left parties in this regard.

Scenario 2: Cross-alliance coalition drawing from DMK and AIADMK camps
The second scenario under discussion is a more unconventional, cross-bloc arrangement involving selective support from both major rival alliances.

Potential composition:

TVK: 108
Congress: 5
PMK: 4
IUML: 2
VCK: 2
This model reflects a pragmatic, issue-based coalition approach, bringing together smaller parties from both the DMK and AIADMK ecosystems. The idea reportedly includes offering cabinet representation to all supporting partners to ensure stability despite the fragile majority arithmetic.

Scenario 3: External support from AIADMK for a minimal stable government
The third and most politically significant option involves securing outside support from the AIADMK, avoiding a broad coalition altogether.

Potential composition:

TVK: 108
AIADMK: 47
In this arrangement, TVK would form the government with backing from AIADMK, relying on a simplified power-sharing understanding rather than a full coalition structure. This could potentially offer greater internal stability and fewer coalition-management challenges, despite ideological differences between the parties.

In a closely contested Tamil Nadu Assembly election, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats in the 234-member House, falling short of the 118-seat majority mark. With no clear majority, the state appears headed for intense political negotiations as TVK explores three possible pathways to form a stable government.

Vijay paid floral tributes to statues of leaders inside the party office, marking a symbolic start to the day’s crucial political discussions. 

In Chennai, P Shanmugam said that the party is waiting for Vijay to clearly spell out his position before taking any decision on support. He said that while discussions on government formation are ongoing, there is “no doubt” that CPI (Marxist) remains aligned with the DMK. 

Outgoing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed deep gratitude to the people of Tamil Nadu for supporting the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led alliance in the Assembly elections, calling every vote a “valuable sign of trust.” He noted that the alliance secured over 1.54 crore votes, with only a narrow vote-share gap of around 3.5% separating them from the leading party. Stalin described this as a strong endorsement from the people, despite the electoral setback. Urging party workers and winning candidates to personally thank voters, he stressed that people remain at the heart of democracy. Reflecting on the party’s journey, Stalin said the DMK has seen both victories and defeats, but remains committed to its ideology and principles.

Vijay arrived at the party headquarters in Panayur to chair an important meeting with newly elected MLAs. The meeting is expected to focus on the roadmap for government formation and future strategy. Vijay will congratulate the winning MLAs and also discuss the party’s next steps. According to sources, despite being 10 seats short of a majority, he is in no hurry to form the government and is taking a measured approach.

Reported by T Raghavan