After its debut election victory, and the back-and-forth over proving its Assembly strength to the Tamil Nadu Governor, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) appears to be finding its feet ahead of the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday.

With the government formation decided – the TVK’s 108 MLAs have been backed by the Congress, VCK, Left and IUML, bringing the total up to 121, clear of the 118-seat majority mark in the 234-member House – all eyes will be on the Cabinet appointments and the first days of the TVK-led government.

While youth voters were a major driving factor behind the TVK’s win, many of its MLAs are also relatively young. With an average age of 45, the TVK’s youngest MLAs are aged 28, 41 MLAs are under 40, and only 10 are 60 or older.

The TVK is well aware of its youth quotient. Speaking to The Indian Express, a young party leader said, “I chose the TVK because it is a new party and because I realised that youngsters would get a lot of opportunities.”

According to a TVK legislator, “The structure of other political parties encourages veterans even as they crave for young blood. But here, the TVK truly gave tickets to young people who came knocking on the door.”

According to a TVK source, the biggest reason behind the inclusion of young men and women was that they would find resonance with Vijay’s young fanbase. “There is a generational shift that made the rise of Vijay possible and young people have played a key role in it,” a source said. 

However, as a new political entity, the TVK has had to rely on many political novices to contest the elections, with only a handful of leaders who have prior political and electoral experience. 

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Of the TVK’s 107 MLAs (excluding Vijay’s second seat), as many as 93 are first-time legislators who have won in their electoral debuts, including the party chief himself.

While 6 other MLAs have prior experience as active members of political parties – including former VCK office-bearer Aadhav Arjuna, former BJP and AIADMK office-bearer R Nirmal Kumar, former DMK member R S Murugan, and AIADMK’s Nilgiris Lok Sabha candidate in 2024 Logesh Tamilselvan, who is the son of former Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal – just 8 MLAs have been elected legislators in the past.

Among the past legislators are the AIADMK’s former Tiruppur MP V Sathyabama, and former AIADMK MLAs V Narayanan and M V Karuppaiya. Former DMK leader V S Babu was previously a one-term MLA and defeated former Chief Minister M K Stalin in Kolathur in this election.

Among the more experienced TVK leaders who have been elected this year are K A Sengottaiyan, a long-time former AIADMK leader who also served as a Cabinet minister under Chief Ministers Jayalalithaa and Edappadi K Palaniswami. N Subramanian, who was an MLA for one term between 2006 and 2011, is also a former AIADMK minister. N Anand, meanwhile, is a former AINRC MLA from Puducherry who also holds the post of TVK general secretary. Another former legislator in the TVK mix is J C D Prabhakar, who served as an AIADMK MLA for two-terms and contested a total of six elections for the party.

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However, the TVK’s remaining MLAs have a wide range of experience, from films and media to medicine and law, as per their election affidavits published by the Election Commission. As many as 46 MLAs have a background in running their own business, while 19 have been involved in the construction and real estate sector. The TVK’s MLAs also include 9 doctors and 8 lawyers, and 7 who have been involved in films and other media. 

Affidavits data also shows that 67 MLAs, or 63% of the total, have at least a graduate degree. Vijay is among 15 MLAs who have completed their education until Class 12, while 24 others have completed up to the Class 10 level or below. While 67 MLAs have no pending criminal cases, the remaining 40 have at least one pending criminal case.