TVK extends open invitation to VCK, IUML to be part of Vijay-led Cabinet

The ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) openly extended an invitation to the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) to be part of the Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay-led Cabinet. “We invite VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan to be part of the Council of Ministers. This is the wish of the Chief Minister as well. Similarly, the IUML should also join the Council of Ministers. We have conveyed our invitation to IUML leaders,” Minister for Public Works and Sports Development and TVK general secretary (election campaign management) Aadhav Arjuna told reporters in Chennai. Arjuna said Mr. Vijay would decide on the Cabinet expansion and an announcement in this regard was expected soon. He said Mr. Vijay and the TVK believed that secular parties should also be part of the Council of Ministers. “The Chief Minister has already urged the Congress party, which extended support to the TVK government by placing its faith in us, to be part of the Cabinet. We respect the stand of the Left parties — CPI(M) and CPI — in extending outside support to the government,” he said. Dravidian parties underestimated TVK; EPS attempted ‘backdoor entry’: Aadhav He said the people of Tamil Nadu, particularly women and youngsters, voted for a change after a gap of nearly 50 years. However, both the DMK and the AIADMK underestimated the TVK, he said. Arjuna said after the results were declared, the AIADMK should have functioned as an opposition party. However, he accused AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami of attempting to join hands with the DMK by going against the people’s mandate and trying to make a “backdoor entry” until the last minute. He also alleged that the DMK had deviated from its core principles of secularism. During the election campaign, DMK president M.K. Stalin and the party’s youth wing secretary and current Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin had said if people vote for the AIADMK, the BJP alone will rule Tamil Nadu. “But after the election results, the DMK also attempted to join hands with the AIADMK,” he said. On C.Ve. Shanmugam-led AIADMK faction To a question on whether the rebel AIADMK MLAs would be part of Mr. Vijay’s Cabinet, Mr. Arjuna said C.Ve. Shanmugam, who heads a faction of the AIADMK, had said their intention was not to secure ministerial berths. “When the [rebel] AIADMK legislators met us, they said they wanted to fulfil the dreams of Puratchi Thalaivar [M.G. Ramachandran] and Puratchi Thalaivi Amma [Jayalalithaa], and save the party,” he said. He said AIADMK cadres believed it was a historic blunder for the party to hold talks with the DMK to seek its support for forming the government. According to Mr. Arjuna, the TVK viewed the rebel AIADMK faction in a friendly manner and that Mr. Shanmugam would decide on the future course of action for their faction.