Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor Vijay, is poised to enter Parliament for the first time—without having contested a Lok Sabha election—following its strong performance in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.
TVK emerged as the single largest party by winning 108 of the 234 seats, pushing the long-dominant DMK and AIADMK behind. The party is now moving quickly to form a government, needing only a few more seats to reach a majority.
In Delhi’s political circles, attention has turned to the next Rajya Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu. The terms of six sitting Rajya Sabha members—including P. Chidambaram (Congress), C.V. Shanmugam and Dharmar (AIADMK), and DMK’s Girirajan, Kalyanasundaram and Rajeshkumar—are set to end in 2028. Based on the current Assembly strength, TVK is projected to win three of those seats, while DMK and AIADMK are expected to secure one each; the sixth seat could depend on political alignments.
An earlier entry is also being discussed. AIADMK’s C.V. Shanmugam, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP whose term runs until June 2028, has won the Mayilam Assembly seat, creating a situation where he must resign from either the MLA post or the MP post under the law. If he resigns from the Rajya Sabha, a by-election would have to be held within six months—and with the present Assembly numbers, TVK is expected to have the advantage in that contest, potentially sending its first member to the Upper House well before 2028.
