Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has not cleared Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief C. Joseph Vijay’s bid to take oath as Tamil Nadu chief minister on Saturday, with Raj Bhavan unconvinced that he has established a reliable majority in the 234-member Assembly.The delay has pushed Tamil Nadu’s government-formation battle into another tense phase after the actor-politician’s two-year-old party emerged as the single largest force but fell short of the 118-seat majority mark. Vijay’s TVK won 108 seats in its debut Assembly election, ahead of the DMK and the AIADMK, but the party’s effective floor strength is being treated as 107 because he is expected to vacate one of the two constituencies he won.
The Congress, which secured five seats, has backed Vijay, taking his bloc to 112. Support from the CPI and CPI, with two legislators each, raised the count to 116. That still left TVK short of the halfway mark, making the position of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, which has two MLAs, central to the arithmetic. The IUML, also with two seats, has not provided the kind of unequivocal backing that TVK would need to settle the numbers.
Vijay met the Governor for the third time in three days on Friday evening after a day of intense talks involving smaller parties. He had earlier staked claim to form the government, but Raj Bhavan’s position remained that the claim must be supported by demonstrable numbers. With no oath ceremony now expected on Saturday, TVK’s immediate task is to produce letters that leave no ambiguity about support on the floor of the House.
The constitutional issue has turned on whether the Governor should invite the leader of the single largest party to form the government and allow him to prove his majority later, or insist on clear evidence of majority support before administering the oath. Tamil Nadu has delivered its first hung Assembly in decades, creating a test of convention in a state long dominated by the DMK-AIADMK binary.
A technical misstep by TVK appears to have complicated Vijay’s claim. His initial submission to Raj Bhavan included signatures from TVK and Congress legislators, creating the impression of a post-poll coalition seeking power rather than a single largest party seeking the first invitation. That distinction matters because a single largest party can argue that it deserves the first chance, while a coalition claim is expected to demonstrate majority support at the threshold.
The deadlock has triggered sharp political reactions. Congress leaders have accused the Governor of delaying the transfer of power despite the mandate against the outgoing dispensation and the BJP-led alliance. TVK cadres have held demonstrations outside Lok Bhavan, reflecting impatience among supporters who view Vijay’s emergence as a mandate for political change.
The AIADMK camp has also moved to keep its options alive. T. T. V. Dhinakaran has asked the Governor to invite Edappadi K. Palaniswami to form the government, arguing that the TVK-led arrangement has not yet proved majority support. Speculation over a possible DMK-AIADMK understanding has been dismissed by both sides, but the uncertainty has given rival blocs room to test post-poll combinations.
Vijay’s rise has altered Tamil Nadu politics with unusual speed. TVK, launched in 2024, positioned itself against both Dravidian majors while also presenting itself as opposed to the BJP’s politics. The party’s campaign drew heavily on Vijay’s personal appeal, welfare promises, anti-corruption messaging and an attempt to attract younger voters who were looking beyond established party networks.
The election result left DMK with 59 seats and AIADMK with 47, while the Congress, PMK, IUML, CPI, CPI, VCK and smaller groups became decisive players in a fragmented Assembly. The BJP, despite its national prominence, remained peripheral in the state’s seat count, while the PMK’s four MLAs emerged as another possible factor in wider bargaining.