TVK wrests nearly half of DMK, AIADMK seats — but why is Vijay's CM dream so near yet so far
Yet, despite a sweeping mandate, he fell short of the one thing needed to form a government: a majority.While the Tamil Nadu Election Results 2026 saw Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerging as the single-largest party, the power to choose the next state government still seemed to rest with the old Dravidian ecosystem and its allies.Here, we explain:People also askAI powered insights from this story•5 QUESTIONSVijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single-largest party, winning 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. This historic debut significantly impacted the traditional Dravidian parties, with TVK capturing over half of the seats previously held by the DMK and nearly 40% of those held by the AIADMK.Despite winning 108 seats, TVK falls short of the 118 seats required for a majority in the 234-member Assembly. Even with the support of the Congress's five MLAs, the total reaches 113, leaving them five seats short of forming a government independently.TVK can form a government by securing support from smaller parties like the CPI, CPI(M), VCK, IUML, or potentially through outside support from the AIADMK. However, alliances with parties like the VCK, CPI, and CPI(M) are complicated as they are allies of the DMK, and TVK has shown unwillingness to align with the BJP, an AIADMK ally.The Governor, Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, has asked TVK chief Vijay to prove majority support in the Assembly before being sworn in as Chief Minister. While TVK claims a mandate as the single-largest party, the Governor has stated that the required majority support has not been established, leading to a debate on the mandate versus majority.If no party or coalition can demonstrate a majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the ultimate recourse would be the imposition of President's Rule or the calling for fresh elections. This scenario arises when the hung assembly cannot lead to a stable government formation.1. How Vijay's TVK, which made a historic debut in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, captured nearly half of the seats won by the DMK and AIADMK in the last state elections2. Why he is still not able to form a majority government in the state; and3. How the DMK and the AIADMK and their allies — which have long dominated Tamil Nadu politics — have the ball in their court despite voters giving more share to the TVK.TVK ate into DMK and AIADMK seat shareThe TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.Of these 108 seats, 65 were previously held by a DMK MLA. In the 2021 state elections, the DMK won 133 seats. This means that the TVK won over half of the seats the DMK had won in the 2021 polls.These 65 seats, which were transferred from the DMK to TVK, were:S No.Assembly seat1GummidipoondiS No.Assembly seat3Poonamallee4Avadi5Maduravoyal6Ambattur7Madavaram8Thiruvottiyur9Dr.radhakrishnan nagar10Perambur11Kolathur12Villivakkam13Thiru-vi-ka-nagar14Egmore15Royapuram16Thousand lights17Anna nagar18Virugampakkam19Saidapet20Thiyagarayanagar21Mylapore22Shozhinganallur23Alandur24Pallavaram25Tambaram26Chengalpattu27Uthiramerur28Kancheepuram29Katpadi30Ranipet31Vellore32Gudiyattam33Tiruppattur34Salem (North)35Rasipuram36Senthamangalam37Namakkal38Tiruchengodu39Erode (West)40Tiruppur (South)41Krishnarayapuram42Manapparai43Srirangam44Tiruchirappalli45Thiruverumbur46Musiri47Thuraiyur48Perambalur49Cuddalore50Kumbakonam51Thanjavur52Tiruppattur53Manamadurai54Madurai east55Sholavandan56Madurai north57Madurai south58Madurai central59Periyakulam60Cumbum61Rajapalayam62Virudhunagar63Thoothukkudi64Ottapidaram65RadhapuramSimilarly, the TVK won 26 of the 66 seats held by AIADMK (nearly 40 per cent) in the 2021 elections. These 26 seats were:S No.Assembly Seats1Arakkonam2Kilvaithinankuppam3Uthangarai4Krishnagiri5Polur6Kallakurichi7Salem (South)8Veerapandi9Kumarapalayam10Gobichettipalayam11Bhavanis
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