Congress Tests TVK as Vijay Breaks Tamil Nadu’s Binary
Congress is keeping its options open with Vijay’s TVK, and that matters because Tamil Nadu’s post-poll arithmetic now hinges on who can assemble a majority, not just who wins the most seats.
Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal has signalled the party is open to talks with actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, after TVK emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats but fell short of a simple majority. TVK has formally asked Congress for support, and the live tally being discussed in Chennai points to a bloc that could rise to 113 seats — still not enough to govern alone. 
The Hindu The Hindu 
Hindustan Times
Why Congress is bargaining from strength, not loyalty
The leverage is not ideological; it is numerical. Vijay won both Perambur and Tiruchi East, and because he has to vacate one constituency, TVK’s effective strength drops to 107 MLAs. Congress, with five seats, can help push the arithmetic but cannot close the gap by itself: in a 233-member House, the halfway mark is 117. That leaves TVK still short even if Congress comes aboard, which is why smaller parties or independents matter next. The Hindu
In 
India, this is classic coalition bargaining: a national party with limited state strength tries to convert a few seats into relevance at the moment a new regional force opens space. Congress has spent most of the last two decades as DMK’s junior partner in Tamil Nadu, and The Hindu’s seat-share data shows the Congress usually trails the DMK when they contest together. That makes TVK attractive not because Congress trusts Vijay, but because Vijay gives Congress fresh leverage over the old alliance. The Hindu
What this means for DMK and AIADMK
For the DMK, the danger is political, not just arithmetical. If Congress even looks willing to shift, Stalin loses the assumption that the national ally will automatically stay in line. That is especially sensitive because the 2026 campaign had already seen open friction over power-sharing, with Congress leaders pushing for a bigger role while DMK rejected the idea of a coalition government. 
Frontline
For AIADMK, Vijay’s rise is worse than a hung assembly: it fractures Tamil Nadu’s old two-party logic and leaves the opposition field less predictable. The immediate beneficiary is TVK, because every conversation about government formation now runs through Vijay. The immediate loser is DMK’s claim that it alone can anchor a stable secular bloc. The Hindu
What to watch next
The key decision point is whether Congress converts “openness” into a formal support letter, and whether TVK can line up the extra five MLAs it still needs after Vijay vacates one seat. If that happens, Tamil Nadu moves from post-poll speculation to an actual coalition negotiation. If it does not, this remains a high-value bargaining chip rather than a government in waiting.
