Key TVK alliance meeting today as bypoll battle nears; Left parties to stay away

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president and Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has convened a meeting of the party's post-poll alliance partners in Chennai on Wednesday. The meeting is scheduled to be held at 4 p.m. at a private resort in Kovalam on the city's outskirts.

Ahead of the meeting, senior TVK leaders and state ministers N. Anand and Aadhav Arjuna met leaders of the alliance partners to formally invite them.

The TVK is currently allied with the Congress, the Left parties, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). Invitations have reportedly been extended to the state-level office-bearers, MPs, and MLAs of these parties.

CPI, CPI(M) to skip meeting

However, both the CPI and the CPI(M) have decided not to attend the meeting, stating that they are extending outside support to the government and are not formally part of the ruling alliance.

"The event is meant for the TVK's alliance partners. Since we are supporting the government from outside, we have decided not to participate. The Left parties are not part of any alliance at present, but our support to the government will continue," CPI State Secretary M. Veerapandian said.

Focus on bypoll strategy

The meeting assumes significance as it comes ahead of the Assembly bypolls in seven constituencies. Six of the vacancies arose following the resignations of AIADMK legislators, while the Tiruchirappalli East seat fell vacant after Vijay, who had won from two Assembly constituencies in the election, chose to retain the Perambur seat in Chennai.

Of the six former AIADMK MLAs, five have already joined the TVK, while the sixth is expected to switch allegiance in the coming days, providing a significant boost to the ruling party ahead of the bypolls.

The meeting is expected to focus on the strategy for the upcoming by-elections, which will serve as an important electoral test for the TVK-led coalition. With alliance partners representing diverse ideological backgrounds, the bypolls will be closely watched to assess the coalition's ability to improve upon the TVK's standalone performance in the Assembly election and reinforce its electoral strength.

The ruling alliance is also reportedly considering fielding Vaiko from the Tiruchirappalli East constituency. He had won the Tiruchirappalli Lok Sabha seat as an INDIA bloc candidate in the last general election.

Meanwhile, the DMK is expected to contest the bypolls without its traditional allies after several parties shifted their allegiance to the ruling TVK-led alliance. Vaiko's MDMK was the latest party to exit the DMK-led alliance and join hands with Vijay.

Besides Tiruchirappalli East, the other Assembly constituencies going to bypolls are Karur, Maduranthakam, Perundurai, Dharapuram, Ambasamudram, and Viralimalai.

TVK emerged as the single largest party in the recent Assembly elections, winning 108 seats—10 short of the majority mark. The Congress was the first party to extend support to the TVK to form the government. It was subsequently joined by the VCK, IUML, CPI, and CPI(M), all of which had previously been part of the DMK-led alliance.

In the 234-member Assembly, the Congress has five MLAs, while the VCK, IUML, CPI, and CPI(M) have two legislators each. The MDMK, which joined the ruling bloc last week after exiting the DMK-led alliance, also has two MLAs.