Vijay’s TVK charts third-front path for ‘26, forms committee

CHENNAI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor-politician Vijay, on Thursday firmed up its coalition roadmap for the 2026 Assembly elections by constituting a high-powered committee to negotiate seat-sharing and alliance terms with like-minded parties. The decision, taken at a meeting of district secretaries at the party headquarters in Panaiyur, marks TVK’s most structured move yet to build a non-DMK, non-AIADMK front.

TVK insiders said the new committee has been tasked with identifying and finalising partners willing to accept Vijay as the Chief Ministerial candidate — an approach publicly outlined in the party’s first political rally. Parties such as TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK, Premalatha Vijayakanth’s DMDK, and several smaller outfits are understood to have shown early interest, indicating the contours of a three-cornered contest taking shape in the State.

Interestingly, on Thursday, the party also received an invitation from the PMK (Anbumani faction) to join its December 17 protest demanding a caste-wise census. TVK’s election campaign general secretary, Aadhav Arjuna, said the request would be placed before Vijay for a final decision.

Four resolutions passed at the meeting reaffirmed Vijay as TVK’s Chief Ministerial choice, accused the DMK government of corruption, and pledged to present a development-focused alternative. A Manifesto Drafting Committee has been set up under Vijay’s supervision, along with a communication strategy to counter political attacks and misinformation.

The meeting was chaired by TVK general secretary N Anand, with senior leaders KA Sengottaiyan, Aadhav Arjuna, KG Arunraj, Nanjil Sampath, Venkatraman and Nirmal Kumar in attendance.

With the entry of former AIADMK heavyweight Sengottaiyan last month and formal alliance groundwork now underway, TVK is positioning itself as a serious third-front contender capable of challenging both the ruling DMK alliance and the AIADMK-BJP bloc in 2026.