Vijay Latest News | 108 Seats, Yet No Government: The Drama Behind Vijay's Swearing-In

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]Only 3 hours to go for the swearing in of Vijay as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, but nobody's going to forget in a hurry how the last 4 days have [music] basically been a political thriller.

[00:00:12]A party with 108 seats in this election was held hostage for 4 days by a party with just two seats. This is the story of democracy where the numbers matter, where tiny little parties with just a pair of MLAs was able to completely keep at its mercy a mammoth mandate that Vijay had. This is the story of what the VCK did to Vijay to get those numbers.

[00:00:37]>> [music] >> It was supposed to be Vijay's triumphant political climax. [music] The actor-turned-politician had stunned Tamil Nadu by emerging as the single largest force in the assembly through his TVK.

[00:01:03]But the road to power soon turned into a suspense thriller.

[00:01:06]>> [music] >> The TVK had 108 seats.

[00:01:10]Congress added five. The left parties added four more. But Vijay still needed support from the VCK and its [music] two MLAs. And suddenly Tamil Nadu politics revolved around the party with just two seats.

[00:01:24]The drama began on Wednesday. VCK leaders along with CPI and CPM met DMK Chief MK Stalin. Sources told NDTV that Stalin signaled he would not block allies from making their own decisions.

[00:01:38]That opened the door for talks with Vijay. But Thursday brought confusion.

[00:01:43]The left parties slowly moved towards supporting Vijay. The VCK did not. Party chief repeatedly said one [music] thing, "We will decide soon."

[00:01:53]Our party will decide and we'll inform later.

[00:02:00]As hours passed, [music] the demands reportedly grew. Sources said the VCK wanted cabinet representation. Then came talk of a deputy chief minister's post.

[00:02:10]And then, incredibly, whispers emerged of an even bigger possibility.

[00:02:16]Could Thirumavalavan himself become a consensus chief minister candidate?

[00:02:21]Tamil Nadu's numbers game had entered uncharted territory.

[00:02:26]Meanwhile, Vijay's meetings with Governor R.N. Ravi Arlekar hit repeated roadblocks. The governor, sources said, >> [music] >> kept asking one question.

[00:02:35]"How will you form a government without 118 MLAs?"

[00:02:39]Vijay insisted he could prove his majority on the floor of the house, but the support letters were still incomplete.

[00:02:47]Then came Friday's chaos. First reports emerged that the VCK would support TVK.

[00:02:52]That appeared enough to push Vijay past the majority Believing he had 121 MLAs, Vijay approached the governor once again.

[00:03:00]But within hours, the numbers shifted dramatically. The IUML backed out. The AMMK pulled away. And then, uncertainty over the VCK returned again. [music] For the third time, Vijay's attempt to form the government stalled.

[00:03:15]Finally, on Saturday evening, [music] the suspense ended. VCK formally handed over its support letter to the TVK. The final piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

[00:03:26]After days of negotiations, reversals, delays, and cliffhangers, Vijay had his majority.

[00:03:34]In the end, Tamil Nadu's biggest political drama was shaped not by the state's giants, but by a two-seat party that kept an entire state and a future chief minister waiting till the very last seat.

[00:03:49]NDTV Bureau Report