Senior Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of TVK chief C Joseph Vijay as the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, according to Congress sources.
The development comes as actor-turned-politician Vijay appears set to assume office after securing crucial support from several political parties, including the Congress and its five MLAs, enabling TVK to cross the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly, party leaders and sources said on Friday.
The move follows Vijay’s meeting with Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Lok Bhavan, where he formally staked claim to form the government after consolidating support from multiple parties in the wake of the fractured mandate delivered in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
TVK had emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats, but remained short of the majority mark of 118 required to form the government on its own.
The Congress later formally announced its support to TVK and Vijay in forming the next government in the state, effectively ending its alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in favour of backing the new political formation. Congress had contested the elections as part of the DMK-led alliance before extending support to TVK.
With the backing of the Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Vijay’s party has crossed the majority threshold in the Assembly.
The CPI, CPI(M) and VCK, which won two seats each, extended support to TVK, taking the alliance tally beyond the halfway mark along with the Congress’ five MLAs.
In an official letter, the CPI(M) conveyed its support to TVK for the formation of the government in the state, while the CPI extended “conditional support” to the Vijay-led party in favour of “stable, secular and democratic governance for the people of Tamil Nadu.”