TN election results 2026: Vijay proves critics wrong as TVK becomes largest party in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: He was derided as a work-from-home politician who hardly reached out to the masses. When he did hit the streets, tragedy followed, resulting in the death of 41 people in a stampede in Karur, prompting many to write his political obituary.

His supporters were derogatorily termed ‘tharkuri’ (illiterate). Analysts wrote him off as a passing fancy. Observers said the crowd milling to meet him were not even old enough to vote. The politically inclined State machinery restricted his outreach by denying permission at one venue after the other.

But in the end, as results started coming in from the morning on the momentous Monday, the theories and assumptions that the ‘wise men’ built on postmortem examination of political history were proven irrelevant. C Joseph Vijay, a lone leader, and a political novice at that, with no mentor to guide him and no solidarity from the film fraternity, defied them all. It was his turn to script history, for himself and the State.

That is not all. In their march to capture Fort St George, Vijay and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s army of Davids slayed not only veterans from all parties, including DMK president and incumbent Chief Minister MK Stalin, they also vanquished many a vice that Tamil Nadu’s electoral politics was infected with. The menace of money power, the tribalism of caste and class, religion and region, which were used to carve up people into vote banks, were inconsequential this time around. The spread of votes and seats that TVK won shows an almost equal support from across the State, a fete that Tamil Nadu has rarely witnessed.

The current that few foresaw was strong enough to leave the incumbent DMK and opposition AIADMK to fight for the principal opposition party status.

It was not exactly a wave, as the party is yet to hit the half-way mark of 118 in the 234-seat House. At the time of going to press, the party has won 66 and is leading from 40, which works out to 12 less than the magic number, setting off intense negotiations to bridge the gap.

Senior leaders said consultations are under way at multiple levels to firm up support. Party sources said channels of communication have been opened with the Congress and Anbumani Ramadoss-led Pattali Makkal Katchi, besides smaller parties that aligned with the DMK. "Talks are progressing. We are confident of securing the required numbers," and a State-level functionary, one of the newly elected MLAs, told DT Next.

The leadership is also weighing the option of seeking support from the AIADMK, which has emerged as the third-largest party, though such a move would involve complex political trade-offs. Indications are that TVK is open to a power-sharing arrangement, which Vijay had promised right from the time of launching the party, to secure support and ensure stability.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the party MLAs is expected within the next 48 hours, where Vijay will be elected Legislature Party leader and formally nominated as the Chief Ministerial candidate. As the single largest party, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar should invite TVK to form the government and seek a time-bound floor test.