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Chennai: Actor-turned-politician Vijay Thalapathy is set to take oath as the Chef Minister of Tamil Nadu tomorrow at 11 am. This comes after he met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar today for the third time in three days and staked claim to form the government in the state with the backing of 120 MLAs.

In the last two meetings, the Governor rejected Vijay's bid to form the government, telling him that he was short of majority and needed to come back with fresh numbers. However, this time he met the government with the the support of 120 MLAs.

Notably, 118 is the magic number of seats needed to form the government in the state.

How Did Vijay Secure The Majority Mark?

Vijay's Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won 108 seats out of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. As Vijay won from two seats (Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East), the actual number of seats in TVK's hand totaled to 107 as of now.

In a crucial boost to Vijay’s numbers, Congress ended its alliance with outgoing CM MK Stalin's DMK party and extended support to TVK earlier this week. Congress won five seats in the elections, hence, with its support TVK's strength jumped to 112 MLAs.

However, Vijay still needed six more MLAs to reach the majority mark.

The stalemate finally ended when VCK, CPI (M) and CPI extended support to TVK. With the alliance of these three parties, Vijay finally had the backing of 118 MLAs. Later, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) also pledged its support to Vijay.

Here are the number of seats contributed by the allies:

• Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) - 2 seats
• Communist Party of India (CPI) - 2 seats
• Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) - 2 seats
• Congress - 5 seats
• Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) - 2 seats

Conditional & Non-Conditional Support To Vijay

Vijay Thalapathy, whose political debut has taken Tamil Nadu by a storm, got both conditional and non-conditional support from parties to form the government.

Congress

Congress, which was the first party to back Vijay, had demanded that TVK should not ally with any “communal forces”.

“Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India,” the party said in a statement.

VCK

Meanwhile, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) has reportedly asked Vijay for Deputy Chief Minister's post as a condition for extending support to TVK. VCK is likely to get a ministry in the state government, sources said. It is also reported that VCK wants its chief Thol Thirumavalavan to fight elections from Tiruchirappalli East.

Notably, Tiruchirappalli East seat was won by Vijay in the recently-concluded elections. Since he also clinched victory from Perambur, he will have to resign from one seat, that will undergo fresh polls.

CPI

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has extended unconditional support to Vijay's TVK.

In a letter, the CPI wrote, “Under the instructions of out Party Secretary, M. Veerapandian, 17 Ramachandrann, is the Leader of the Legislature Party of Communist Party of India, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on behalf of our two Members of Legislative Assembly, de hereby convey our unconditional support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam under the leadership of its President and Legislative Party Leader, M. C. Joseph Vijay, for the purpose of formation of the Government in the State of Tamil Nadu.”

The letter further read, “This support is extended pursuant to the results of the General Assembly Elections held for the State of Tamil Nadu on 23rd April 2006, and is being conveyed in the interest of stable, secular and democratic governance for the people of Tamil Nadu.”

TVK's Blockbuster Performance

Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), founded by Vijay in February 2024, made a historic debut in the April 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, shaking up the state's traditional political landscape.

TVK swept the elections, winning 108 seats out of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

The party emerged as the single-largest party in the elections, breaking the long-standing dominance of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) parties in the state.