Congress Has Only 5 Seats, So How Can Vijay Form Government? Tamil Nadu Numbers Explained
Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) may have emerged as the single largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election with 108 seats, but it is still 10 seats short of the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member House.
This has raised one big question: Can Vijay still become Chief Minister?
The answer is yes.
Under the Indian Constitution, a party does not always need to cross the majority mark on its own to form the government. Since TVK is the single largest party, the Governor can invite Vijay to stake a claim and prove his majority on the Assembly floor.
TVK now has two main options.
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The first is to form an alliance with smaller parties and independents. The second is to run a minority government with outside support from other parties.
This is where Congress becomes important. Even though the Indian National Congress has only five seats, its support matters because every MLA counts in a close contest, and they have already announced an alliance with TVK.
Other smaller parties together also hold key numbers. PMK has 4 seats, IUML 2, CPI 2, VCK 2, CPM 2, while BJP, DMDK and AMMK have one seat each.
If some of these parties support TVK from outside or abstain during voting, Vijay can still comfortably pass the crucial “floor test”.
A floor test is the process where the Chief Minister proves majority support in the Assembly.
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Importantly, the government does not need support from all 118 MLAs during the vote. It only needs more MLAs voting in favour than against it among those present in the House.
For example, if some opposition MLAs walk out or abstain, the effective majority number falls. In such a case, TVK can win the trust vote even without 118 direct supporters.
Tamil Nadu has seen this before. In 2006, M. Karunanidhi formed a minority government despite DMK not having a full majority. The government completed its full five-year term with outside support from Congress and allies.
This means Vijay’s path to becoming Chief Minister is still very much open. The coming days will now depend on alliance talks, support from smaller parties, and the floor test in the Assembly.
