After the formation of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government under Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay in Tamil Nadu, the Congress is set to return to power in the state after nearly 55 years.
Following a fractured mandate in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the Congress extended support to TVK. In return, Vijay has reportedly decided to allocate two ministerial posts to the Congress in his cabinet.
The new government took oath during a grand ceremony held at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, where Vijay was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay and nine other ministers.
TVK Emerged As Largest Party But Missed Majority Mark
Contesting Assembly elections for the first time under Vijay’s leadership, TVK emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly. However, the party fell short of the majority mark of 118 seats, forcing Vijay to seek support from Congress and other like-minded parties to form the government.
The Congress, which contested 28 seats as part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), managed to win only five seats. Despite the low tally, the party leadership decided to support TVK after multiple rounds of discussions held by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership in New Delhi.
The TVK government has also received support from CPI, CPI(M), IUML and VCK, enabling Vijay to comfortably cross the majority mark.
Congress Likely To Get Two Cabinet Berths
Congress joining the Tamil Nadu cabinet is being seen as a politically significant development, as the party had remained out of the state ministry for decades despite being a long-time ally of the DMK in several governments.
In 2006, when the DMK formed the government with outside support from Congress and PMK, the Congress had won 34 seats but was still not given representation in the cabinet.
AICC national observer for Tamil Nadu Girish Chodankar confirmed that discussions regarding Congress nominees for the cabinet are still underway. He said the party is not insisting that Congress ministers be sworn in immediately and that the final decision on cabinet representation will be taken by the leadership in Delhi.
According to Congress sources, Melur MLA P Viswanathan and Killiyoor MLA S. Rajesh Kumar are among the frontrunners for ministerial positions.
