The Congress on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) formally announced an alliance with actor C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) “founded on mutual respect, appropriate share, and shared responsibility between the two parties.”

Thus, the party unilaterally snapped its over-two-decades-old ties with the DMK in Tamil Nadu. The two parties had joined hands ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, and their relationship had remained largely intact, except for a brief separation during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Announcing this in a press release, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, said the alliance is not only for the formation of this government, but also for future elections to local body organisations, the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha.

He said the decision was taken after Mr. Vijay, whose party fell short of the majority mark in the recent Assembly elections, formally requested support from the Indian National Congress (INC) in Tamil Nadu.

As reported by The Hindu previously, the press release stated: “Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India.”

Mr. Chodankar said that the TVK and the Tamil Nadu Congress will strive to bring back “Perunthalaivar Kamaraj’s glory days of Tamil Nadu, with a strong commitment to Thanthai Periyar’s social justice ideals and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s constitutional ideals in the years and decades to come.”

“Mr. Vijay and Shri Rahul Gandhi jointly pledge to respect this historic verdict of the people of Tamil Nadu for a secular and progressive government, and to fulfil the dreams and promises of the people — especially the youth of Tamil Nadu,” the party stated.