Vijay walks the talk: Tamil Nadu gets first-ever coalition government with Cong, VCK and IUML in Cabinet

“Share in power with allies” was not merely an election slogan for Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay. He is now walking the talk by inducting alliance partners — the Congress, Thol Thirumavalavan-led Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) — into his ministry on Thursday (May 21, 2026), marking the first-ever coalition government in Tamil Nadu’s political history.

Raj Bhavan has announced that the swearing-in ceremony for the new ministers will take place at 10 am, with several leaders from the TVK also securing ministerial berths.

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Interestingly, the rebel faction of the AIADMK, led by C. Ve. Shanmugam, S. P. Velumani and C. Vijayabaskar, is unlikely to get representation in the current expansion following stiff resistance from the Left parties, which are extending outside support to the government.

While the Congress is expected to get two ministerial berths, the VCK and IUML are likely to receive one each. The two Left parties — the CPI(M) and CPI — have decided to stay out of the ministry despite an invitation from the Chief Minister to join the cabinet.

Though the CPI(M)’s constitution prevents it from joining a coalition government in which it is not the dominant force, the CPI also appears to be following the same line, despite having no such restriction. Both the VCK and IUML are expected to formally convey their consent ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.

According to sources in the TVK and VCK, Chief Minister Vijay is keen on bringing VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan into the ministry in order to lend greater political heft to the new government.

The TVK chief is also believed to have agreed to vacate the Tiruchy East Assembly seat, while retaining Perambur in Chennai, to enable Thirumavalavan to contest the bypoll and enter the Assembly. Pressure is also mounting within the VCK that the party chief should not miss the opportunity.

For the Congress, VCK and IUML alike, the occasion is being seen as historic. The Congress is returning to government in Tamil Nadu after 59 years, while the VCK, in its more than three-decade-long history, is set to become part of a government for the first time. Similarly, the IUML has never before been part of a ruling dispensation in the Dravidian heartland.

There is jubilation in the Congress camp, with its two legislators — S. Rajeshkumar and P. Viswanathan — set to become ministers.

“It is not merely a political development, but a historic occasion. It marks a return to the Kamaraj era of simplicity and service. And it is no coincidence that this is happening on the anniversary of our beloved leader Rajiv Gandhi,” Congress whip in the Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, posted on X, recalling that it was Vijay who had promised a share in power for allies.