Congress Tilts to Vijay — Tamil Nadu’s New Coalition Game
Congress’s openness to backing TVK gives Vijay a path to power and turns smaller parties into bargaining chips in a hung Assembly.
Congress is signaling that TVK leader Vijay now has leverage, not just momentum. Mint reports that Congress has decided to support Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, with smaller parties likely to follow, after TVK’s surprise election showing left Tamil Nadu without a clear majority. 
Mint The Hindu said AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal described a “new situation” and said Congress would “factor in the emerging scenario,” while confirming that TVK had formally sought Congress backing. 
The Hindu
Why Congress is moving
This is a bargaining move, not a romance. Congress fought the election as part of the DMK-led coalition and had earlier sealed a pact with DMK for 28 Assembly seats and one Rajya Sabha berth. The Hindu But TVK’s debut performance changed the arithmetic: The Hindu reported Vijay’s party emerged as the single largest force with 108 seats, short of the 118 needed in the 234-member House. The Hindu
For Congress, that creates an opening to stay relevant in a fragmented field. Backing TVK could preserve a seat at the table in a new government; refusing to engage risks leaving it boxed into a weakened DMK alliance if Vijay can stitch together a majority with smaller parties. For 
India, this is a familiar pattern: regional power shifts quickly once a hung legislature turns every seat into a negotiation.
Who gains, who loses
TVK benefits first. A Congress signal makes Vijay look like the only credible pivot for post-poll arithmetic, especially as the CPI says it will decide collectively if approached, rather than rule out support in advance. The Hindu It also lowers the cost for smaller parties to follow suit, because they can frame support as stability rather than defection.
The loser is DMK’s claim to be the default pole of Tamil politics. Congress remaining inside the DMK bloc is useful only if it can deliver numbers; once TVK becomes the more plausible governing vehicle, Congress’s leverage shifts away from Chennai’s ruling establishment and toward Vijay’s camp. The AIADMK, meanwhile, is watching from the sidelines after saying it had held no talks with TVK but that more parties could still join its side. The Hindu
What to watch next
The next decision point is whether TVK can convert informal support into a stable majority before the swearing-in arithmetic hardens. Watch for three moves: formal endorsements from Congress and CPI, any shift from PMK, and whether DMK can peel back wavering allies before the Assembly session convenes.
