Congress backs Vijay TVK to form Tamil Nadu government
Tamil Nadu Congress backs Vijay TVK for secular government, unanimous decision after urgent PAC meeting, sources say
Tamil Nadu’s post-election politics has taken a surprising turn, with the Congress deciding to back TVK leader Vijay in his bid to form a secular government, according to sources. The move came after an urgent meeting of the Tamil Nadu Congress Political Affairs Committee late on Tuesday night, May 5, where senior leaders reportedly agreed that supporting Vijay was the right political choice in the current situation.
The meeting was called by AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu affairs Girish Chodankar and held over Zoom, reflecting how quickly the party moved after the election results. Sources said several senior members spoke in favour of extending support to the actor-turned-politician, and the PAC ultimately reached a unanimous decision. For a party that had entered the election as part of the DMK-led alliance, the shift is politically significant and shows how fluid the post-poll arithmetic has become.
Earlier in the day, Congress leaders had already indicated that Vijay had approached them for support in forming the government. The party said its leadership had asked the state unit to take a final call, keeping in mind the mood of Tamil Nadu and the mandate reflected in the results. Congress also made clear where it stood politically, stressing that the people of the state had voted for a secular government and that it would not allow the BJP or its proxies to have a role in running Tamil Nadu.
That message was repeated after a key meeting at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi on Tuesday evening. The meeting was attended by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Girish Chodankar and other senior leaders. After the discussion, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told reporters that Vijay had formally requested support from the Indian National Congress to form a government in Tamil Nadu. He said the party was examining the request in light of the electoral verdict and the state’s political sentiment.
The numbers are what make this moment especially interesting. TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, which puts it well ahead of the nearest rivals but still short of the halfway mark of 118. Vijay needs the support of at least 10 MLAs to cross that threshold and form a government on his own. Congress has five seats, which makes its backing valuable, though not sufficient by itself. Other smaller parties such as the PMK, CPI, CPI-M, VCK, DMDK and AMMK could become important in the coming days if coalition talks intensify.
The larger backdrop is just as important as the seat count. Congress fought the election as part of a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, which won 59 seats, while the AIADMK secured 47. The BJP, despite its national reach, managed only one seat, underlining how limited its presence remains in the state. In that context, Congress’s decision to back Vijay appears to be driven not only by numbers, but also by a desire to keep the government aligned with secular and anti-BJP politics.
For now, the development adds a fresh twist to Tamil Nadu’s political story. Vijay’s rise has already changed the tone of the state election, and Congress’s support could help him turn a strong showing into actual power. But the final outcome will depend on whether this early momentum can translate into enough legislative backing. In the coming days, the real test will be whether political clarity follows the excitement of the result.