CHENNAI: The induction of two Congress MLAs into the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Vijay has revived memories of a similar political development that took place more than seven decades ago in Tamil Nadu politics.
After Independence, the then Madras State witnessed its first Assembly election in 1951-52. In that election, the Indian National Congress failed to secure a clear majority on its own. It later formed the government with the support of the Commonweal Party led by Vanniyar leader MA Manickavelu.
Interestingly, the Commonweal Party had contested the election as an ally of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which was then an emerging political force and had not yet contested under its own symbol.
After the election, however, the Commonweal Party broke away from the DMK alliance and extended support to the Congress government led by C Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), enabling him to become the Chief Minister of Madras State.
The Commonweal Party had won six seats in that election.
Since then, Tamil Nadu politics largely witnessed stable majority governments led either by the DMK or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Coalition-era equations briefly resurfaced in 2006, when the DMK under M. Karunanidhi formed the government with 96 seats through outside support from the Congress and PMK, though alliance partners were not part of the Cabinet.
The current political scenario has once again drawn attention because the century-old Congress party extended support to the two-year-old Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to facilitate government formation after the 2026 Assembly election delivered a fractured mandate.
Now, Congress MLAs S Rajesh Kumar and P Viswanathan have been inducted into the Tamil Nadu Cabinet.
With the inclusion of Congress representatives in the Ministry, Tamil Nadu is witnessing a coalition government after nearly 74 years — the first such Cabinet since the Rajaji-led government formed in the early years after Independence.