Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national president K.M. Kader Mohideen on Saturday (May 9, 2026) extended unconditional support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to form the government in Tamil Nadu.

In identically worded letters, similar to those sent by the Left parties and addressed to the Governor, Mr. Thirumavalavan and Mr. Mohideen said their respective parties extended unconditional support to the TVK, under the leadership of party president C. Joseph Vijay, to form the government. Both parties have two MLAs-elect each. They contested as a part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.

The letter of support from the IUML came as a surprise, as Mr. Mohideen had previously stated the party remained firmly within the DMK-led alliance and had not issued any letter backing the party led by Mr. Vijay.

With the backing of the VCK and the IUML, the TVK now has the support of 120 MLAs-elect, (as Mr. Vijay contested from two seats), two more than the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member House. The TVK, which won 108 seats, had already secured the support of five Congress MLAs-elect and two each from the CPI and the CPI(M).

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan on Saturday said he had to consider candidates from the constituencies allotted to the party, since the seat allocation would be fewer than 10. “It is an important issue. We should field local candidates,” he said, addressing party members through a virtual meeting.

Mr. Thirumavalavan also recalled the opinion of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) that the party lost in the Arakkonam and Vanur constituencies because its candidates were outsiders. “But the irony is that all six candidates were also outsiders, and four of them won. We lost in two constituencies by a narrow margin,” he said, requesting party members not to create any pressure and to allow him to choose the candidates independently.

He also pointed out that the Communist parties leave it to the district committees to send a list of candidates, and the State committee would finalise the list. Mr. Thirumavalavan added that he was able to field as many as 25 candidates when the VCK was part of the People’s Welfare Front (PWF).