VCK Support Nears Majority for Vijay in Tamil Nadu
The VCK’s backing gives TVK the numbers it needs, but the Governor’s reluctance means the fight is now about constitutional control, not just seats.
TVK has turned the Tamil Nadu government-formation race into a leverage contest. The immediate shift is that the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) has decided to back C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, while the Indian Union Muslim League has also been reported as extending support, according to 
The Hindu and the 
New Indian Express. That matters because Tamil Nadu’s hung Assembly has made a handful of small parties the decisive actors: without them, Vijay cannot cross the majority line; with them, he can.
The real power is with the small parties
TVK’s strength comes from being the single largest bloc, but not the largest by itself. The assembly arithmetic reported this week put Vijay’s camp at 117 with support from the Congress and the Left, one short of the 118 needed in the 234-member House, before the VCK move tightened the gap further in TVK’s favor (The Hindu). That leaves the VCK, with just two seats, able to decide whether Vijay forms the government or the state slips into deeper uncertainty.
That is why the VCK’s decision is more than symbolic. Thol. Thirumavalavan is not just offering numbers; he is signaling that the anti-DMK opposition space is still fluid and that his party can extract policy concessions or political space from a TVK-led arrangement. The Hindu reported that some in the VCK preferred a common minimum programme over unconditional support, which tells you the party is trying to convert a small seat share into negotiating power (The Hindu).
The Governor has become the bottleneck
The other power center is Lok Bhavan. Governor Rajendra Arlekar has already told Vijay that the “requisite majority support” has not been established, and sources told The Hindu that no letter exchange took place in the earlier meeting. On Friday and Saturday, the Governor was reported to have declined or delayed an appointment, even as Vijay sought to stake his claim (The Hindu).
That puts the constitutional issue front and center: if Vijay can show signed support from enough MLAs, the Governor’s room to resist shrinks. If the paperwork is disputed or incomplete, Arlekar can keep pressing for clearer proof and delay the swearing-in. The live reports also show that not all claimed support is stable: The Hindu noted that IUML later denied reports that it had switched sides, which underlines how fragile the numbers remain.
What to watch next
The next decision point is simple: whether Vijay can present a clean majority claim that survives scrutiny at Raj Bhavan. If he can, the Governor will be forced either to invite him or to defend another delay. If he cannot, President’s Rule talk will intensify and the bargaining power shifts back to 
India’s constitutional machinery rather than party politics. The key date is immediate: the Governor’s next move will determine whether this is a transfer of power or a prolonged standoff.
