Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 | Vijay to take oath as Chief Minister on May 10

Governor R V Arlekar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay at 10 am at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on May 10.

Chennai: Chandrasekaran Joseph Vijay will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 10 (Sunday), heading the first coalition government in the state’s history after his party, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), mustered two seats more than the magic number of 118.

Almost all “secular” parties that were part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) have extended outside support to the TVK government, while the Congress will join Vijay’s Council of Ministers.

The day began with uncertainty but ended on a happy note when the Dalit party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the IUML, which won two seats each, extended unconditional outside support to the TVK-led government.

With this, the number of legislators supporting the Vijay government has gone up to 120. While the TVK’s effective strength is 107, the Congress has five MLAs, and the CPI (M), CPI, IUML, and VCK have eight legislators in total.

Governor R V Arlekar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay at 10 am at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday. The Chief Minister has to prove his majority on the floor of the House by May 13; newly elected legislators are likely to be sworn in on May 11 and May 12.

About eight to nine MLAs -- senior leaders such as N Anand, K G Arunraj, K A Sengottaiyan, Aadhav Arjuna, and C T R Nirmal Kumar -- are likely to be sworn in as ministers along with Vijay on Sunday.

There is still little clarity on whether the Congress, which is likely to be allotted two berths, will join the ministry immediately or after the floor test when the Chief Minister is likely to expand his cabinet.

This will be Tamil Nadu’s first coalition government since Independence. Although the state has thrown up hung assemblies in the past, the Congress will taste power in the state for the first time since 1967, when it was overthrown by the then-fledgling DMK. In 1952, C. Rajaji led a minority government in the then-Madras Presidency, and in 2006, DMK chief M. Karunanidhi did the same after his party failed to win enough seats to command a majority on its own.

Six decades later, the party joins a government led by the TVK, which has broken the six-decade duopoly of the DMK and AIADMK. The other four parties that have extended support to the TVK and Vijay will stay out of the government for now.

Vijay will also be the first Christian and fourth cinema star to be sworn in as the Chief Minister after M G Ramachandran, his wife V N Janaki, and J Jayalalithaa.

The day saw hectic developments as the VCK, whose chief Thol Thirumavalavan was reportedly untraceable for hours at a time, dithered on the decision multiple times. Reports indicated that an alternate arrangement of projecting Thirumavalavan as the Chief Minister with support from the DMK and AIADMK was discussed, but things eased after former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami extended his wishes to the new government.

A little after 4.30 pm, VCK chief Thirumavalavan handed over the letter of support to TVK senior leader Aadhav Arjuna, who jumped ship from his party a year ago, following which Vijay began his journey to Raj Bhavan—his fourth visit in as many days.

By this time, the IUML sprang a surprise by extending “unconditional support,” but there was a hitch: the Governor had not yet allotted time to the TVK delegation. However, within minutes, Vijay’s convoy took a U-turn to Lok Bhavan after the Governor granted him an appointment; this time, he was accompanied by leaders of the alliance parties.

Around the same time, DMK chief M K Stalin said his party would serve as a constructive opposition and welcomed the stand of allies who backed the TVK to avoid a crisis.

Though he extended support to the TVK, Thirumavalavan maintained that there was no change in his stand that Vijay was “the RSS’s child” and stated his support was only to form a government.

“We wanted to prevent the imposition of President’s Rule in Tamil Nadu and that is the reason we have extended our support to the TVK. Our alliance within the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance will continue. As a political party, we have taken this decision by exercising our independent right,” he added.

The positive development was also preceded by allegations of horse-trading by the AMMK led by T T V Dhinakaran, which was denied by the TVK. The party’s lone MLA, S Kamaraj, allegedly signed a support letter inside a car, which was sent to the Governor. The MLA signing the letter was also filmed by the TVK, which released it to deny allegations of horse-trading.

The incident came to light after Lok Bhavan sought a clarification from Dhinakaran, who said his party’s support was only for the AIADMK. He alleged that the letter was forged and filed a complaint with the police.