How a Hung Assembly Forms a Government, and What the Governor Decides

When no party wins a majority of seats in a state assembly, a hung assembly results, and the Governor has to decide whom to invite to form the government. Two sources of guidance shape that choice: an order of preference recommended by the Sarkaria Commission, and a Supreme Court ruling that a majority is tested on the floor of the House.

The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election produced a result of this kind. The House has 234 seats, so a majority needs 118. The events that followed show how these questions arise in practice, and where the reports on them differ.

The Order of Preference Recommended for the Governor

The Sarkaria Commission recommended that, when no party has an absolute majority, the Governor should sound out parties in a fixed order. The first option is a pre-election coalition formed before voting. The second is the largest single party, if it can claim to form a government with the support of others.

The third option is a post-election alliance in which all partners join the government. The fourth is a post-election alliance in which some partners join the government and others support it from outside. The order ranks a pre-election coalition above a single party, so a group that contested together comes before the largest single party.

The Governor should then choose a leader who, according to the Governor, is most likely to command a majority in the Assembly. The recommendation says the Governor should not decide majority support alone outside the Assembly. The recommendation also says a Chief Minister should seek a vote of confidence within 30 days after taking office, unless that person leads a party with an absolute majority.

The Floor Test Under the 1994 Bommai Judgment

In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, decided on 11 March 1994 by a nine-judge bench, the Supreme Court held that the majority enjoyed by a council of ministers must be tested on the floor of the House. Under the judgment, a government's majority is tested in the Assembly itself.

The same judgment dealt with Article 356, the provision that allows the President to take over a state government. Justice Sawant's opinion says the President's satisfaction must rest on objective material, and that a proclamation made without such material is open to challenge.

A related point comes from the Supreme Court's 2006 judgment in Rameshwar Prasad v. Union of India. It describes the 2001 decision in B.R. Kapur v. State of Tamil Nadu, which says a Governor can decline to make an appointment when the person chosen by the majority party is not qualified.

The Sarkaria recommendation and the Bommai judgment both put the test in the House. The first asks for a confidence vote within 30 days after taking office, and the second places the majority on the floor of the House.

Tamil Nadu's Results Against the 118-Seat Mark

The Election Commission of India declared the results on 4 May 2026, according to the Wikipedia page for the election. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by C. Joseph Vijay, won the most seats, with 108 of 234. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) took 59, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) 47 and the Indian National Congress 5.

The 17th Assembly page gives TVK 109 seats as of 16 October 2026, against 108 in the election results. On that page, 9 seats held by coalition partners brought the combined total to 118. The election page and the Tribune both give TVK 108. On the 109 figure, TVK alone would fall 9 seats short of the mark.

The two accounts also differ on outside support. The Tribune's 9 May report lists the Congress with 5 MLAs, as having extended support to TVK, and the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) with 2 each, whose support is reported. The 17th Assembly page lists CPI with 2, CPI(M) with 2 and one Independent as external support.

Vijay took office as Chief Minister on 10 May 2026, according to the 17th Assembly page. The four parties named above hold 219 of the 234 seats in the election page's figures.

The Governor's Invitation and the Petitions

The Tribune reported on 9 May 2026 that Governor Rajendra Arlekar had refused to invite Vijay to form the government, despite meeting him twice. The paper described the position as a stalemate over government formation that had reached the Supreme Court.

Two petitions were filed in the Supreme Court. One, by TVK member Ezhilarasi K, asks the Court to direct the Governor to invite Vijay to form the government and to administer him the oath as Chief Minister. The other, by former IPS officer M Ramasubramani, challenges the Governor's refusal to invite Vijay.

The 9 May report came before 10 May, the date the 17th Assembly page gives for Vijay taking office.

Under the judgment, a government's majority is tested in the Assembly itself.

Key Terms in a Government Formation

An absolute majority means more than half the seats in the House. In a 234-seat Assembly, that is 118.

A pre-poll alliance is a group of parties that agrees to contest together before voting. A post-poll alliance is formed after the results, with partners that either join the government or support it from outside, as the last two options in the Sarkaria order describe.

A floor test is a vote in the Assembly that shows whether a government has a majority. The confidence vote the Sarkaria recommendation describes is the House vote the newly chosen leader should seek within 30 days of taking office, unless the leader's party has an absolute majority.

A hung assembly is one in which no party or alliance reaches the majority mark. The Tamil Nadu figures above show that situation, with TVK's count below 118 before any coalition partners are added.

What the Reports Leave Unsettled

The reports differ on TVK's seat total, which is 108 in the election results and the Tribune and 109 on the 17th Assembly page as of 16 October 2026. They also differ on which parties are coalition partners and which give outside support.

The Governor's name is spelled Rajendra Arlekar in the Tribune and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Wikipedia.