Chennai , 09 May (H.S.): Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C. Joseph Vijay on Saturday formally moved towards government formation in Tamil Nadu after securing the support of 120 MLAs, taking the party comfortably past the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly.

The latest political boost for TVK came after the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) officially announced its support to Vijay's bid to form the next government. The party submitted a signed letter to Governor-in-charge Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar extending its backing to the TVK-led alliance.

The development came hours after the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) also declared support for Vijay, further strengthening the numbers in favour of a TVK-led government in the state.

With the latest additions, Vijay now enjoys the backing of 120 MLAs, including 107 from TVK, five from the Congress, and two each from the CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML.

Tamil Nadu went to polls for all 234 Assembly constituencies in a single phase on April 23 amid a high-voltage four-cornered contest involving the DMK, AIADMK, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), and TVK.

The results announced on May 4 saw TVK emerge as the single-largest party with 108 seats. However, after Vijay decided to retain only one of the two constituencies he had won, the party's effective strength in the Assembly came down to 107.

Following the election verdict, hectic political activity unfolded in Chennai, with TVK reaching out to several parties to mobilise support for government formation. The CPI and CPI(M) were among the first parties to publicly back Vijay, followed by the Congress.