Congress MP Manickam Tagore has alleged that the Congress walked out of the DMK alliance after realising that the DMK was planning to join hands with the AIADMK.
In a social media post, Tagore said, “The two Dravidian parties who are life-time enemies have joined together over night… Their claim of forming a stable government is only a political language to protect their power".
The Congress has decided to extend support to Vijay-led TVK after the party’s strong performance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections disrupted the long-standing dominance of the DMK and AIADMK in state politics.
The Congress said that its alliance with the TVK was “not only for the formation of this government, but also for future elections to the local body organisations, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha".
The DMK was part of the NDA government and allied with the BJP between 1999 and 2003.
While announcing its alliance with the TVK, Congress in its statement said, “This alliance – founded on mutual respect, appropriate share, and shared responsibility between the two parties – is not only for the formation of this government, but also for future elections to the local body organisations, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha."
Meanwhile, Governor RV Arlekar, informed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vija, that the required majority support in the State Legislative Assembly for government formation had not been established, Lok Bhavan said.
TVK emerged as the single-largest party in the 2026 Assembly elections with 108 seats. But the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly stands at 118, leaving TVK short by 10 seats for now.
Vijay has secured victories from two constituencies and will have to vacate one seat within the stipulated time as per election rules. With that, TVK’s effective tally would come down to 107, widening the gap to the majority mark to 11 seats. The verdict has intensified post-poll political activity, with smaller parties emerging as key players in the government formation process.
The MK Stalin-led DMK, which had remained a dominant force in Tamil Nadu politics for years, was restricted to 59 seats in the Assembly elections, while the AIADMK won 47 seats. Vijay-led TVK emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats.
Among the smaller parties, Congress secured five seats, PMK won four, while CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML bagged two seats each. BJP, DMDK and AMMK won one seat apiece, with the remaining seats going to independents. With 108 MLAs, TVK still needs the support of at least 10 more legislators to reach the majority mark.
