Congress Extends Conditional Support To Vijay’s TVK To Form Tamil Nadu Government

The Congress party on Wednesday announced its support to actor-politician C Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to form the next government in Tamil Nadu, while making it clear that the backing would remain conditional.

In a statement, Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar said TVK president Vijay had formally sought Congress support after emerging as the single largest party in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

The party termed the verdict a mandate for a ‘secular, progressive and welfare-oriented government’ based on constitutional values.

TVK, contesting its first Assembly election, secured 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, falling short of the majority mark of 118 by 10 seats.

The Congress won five seats as part of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance and could play a crucial role in enabling Vijay to stake a claim to form the government.

The Congress stated that both the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislature Party had decided to extend full support to TVK.

The party further underlined that it would support the alliance only if ‘communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India’ stayed out of it, in an apparent reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies.

The Congress said the proposed partnership aims to revive the legacy of former Chief Minister K Kamaraj, while adhering to the social justice principles of Periyar EV Ramasamy and the constitutional vision of BR Ambedkar.

Describing the alliance as a ‘historic responsibility’, the party indicated that cooperation would extend beyond government formation to future local body, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections. It also noted that Vijay and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were committed to respecting the public mandate and addressing the aspirations of the people, particularly the youth.