Tamil Nadu government formation 2026: a timeline of events

On May 4, 2026, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay, swept the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and won 108 seats (including the second seat won by Vijay), pushing the DMK and AIADMK alliances to the second and third positions respectively. However, the party was still ten seats short of majority in the State’s 234-seat Assembly. Since it had no pre-poll alliance in place, the two-year-old party was left to gather more support to prove majority to form the government in the State.

During Mr. Vijay’s second meeting with Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on May 7, the latter explained to Mr. Vijay that the requisite majority support (118 MLAs) in the State Legislative Assembly, essential for forming the government, has not been established. It lead to TVK leaders attempting to gain the support from MLA-elects across parties.

On Friday (May 8), TVK’s tally grew to 117 seats with the Communist Party of India (CPI) (two seats) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) (two seats) extending support to TVK, as the party had, by then, already secured the support of the Congress party, which has five seats in the Assembly.

The next day, (May 9), in letters addressed to the Governor, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national president K.M. Kader Mohideen said their respective parties extended unconditional support to TVK, under the leadership of party president C. Joseph Vijay, to form the government.

This brought the effective total of the newly-formed coalition to 120, two past the majority.

Here is the split-up of seats by alliance:

After securing the support, Mr. Arlekar, on May 9, invited Mr. Vijay to form the government. The TVK president then took oath as the Chief Minister on May 10 at Nehru Stadium in Chennai. Nine Ministers were also sworn-in along with Mr. Vijay.

Later on May 12, a rebel group comprising of 30 MLAs from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), announced their support to the TVK, causing tensions in one of the largest parties in the State. The group, led by party leaders S.P. Velumani and C.Ve. Shanmugam, said that they took the decision after the AIADMK’s attempt to ally with rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Here is a timeline of the key developments tracking these developments.