Tamil Nadu heading for a coalition government

Tamil Nadu is set to witness its first coalition government in decades, with the Congress party, an ally of Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, expected to join the government to be headed by C. Joseph Vijay.

“It will be a coalition government,” Girish Chodankar, the State’s All India Congress Committee in-charge, said on Saturday (May 9, 2026). Asked whether the Congress had sought a share in power, Mr. Chodankar told The Hindu that the proposal had been placed before the TVK leadership which had accepted it.

“Tomorrow you can see. You can call it a coalition government,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will attend Mr. Vijay’s swearing-in ceremony, in which Congress candidate P. Viswanathan will also be sworn in as a Minister.

The last time Tamil Nadu had a coalition government was in 1952, when Manickavelu Naicker joined the Congress government led by C. Rajagopalachari. However, Mr. Naicker subsequently became an associate member of the Congress, causing the arrangement to lose its character as a coalition government.

Subsequent attempts to form coalition governments in Tamil Nadu did not fructify. In 2006, although the DMK failed to secure a majority on its own, its alliance partners were not accommodated in the Cabinet headed by late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi. While the Congress was keen on joining the government, the DMK dodged it with the support of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) which had agreed to support from outside.

Even before the run up to the 2026 election, the Congress made a coalition as a precondition for seat-sharing. However, the DMK rejected it then.