Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 6: the installation of a new government in Tamil Nadu, which was expected on Thursday, is likely to be delayed as the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is yet not convinced if the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party of the actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay has the number yet to form the government since except the five-member team of the Congress, no other party has so far extend support to his party.
In a series of swift developments in Tamil Nadu politics, Mr Vijay on Wednesday called on the governor Arlekar and staked claim to form the government. According to sources, Governor Arlekar told leaders during a meeting that it would be more appropriate to proceed only after receiving a letter proving support from 118 MLAs, the number required for a majority in the 234-member State Assembly.
During the meeting, Vijay submitted a letter showing support from 112 MLAs. Since he won from two constituencies, the effective strength of his party, TVK, stands at 107. So far, the Congress has officially handed over letters backing five MLAs, bringing the confirmed total to 112.
Sources stated that after the discussion, Vijay requested some more time from the Governor to secure the remaining support. The political situation continues to evolve as parties weigh their options.
The VCK, which has two MLAs, stated that a decision on extending support to TVK would be taken on Thursday. Similarly, the Left Front’s four MLAs will finalise their stand by May 8. Although leaders from the PMK, which holds four seats, met Vijay today, they have not yet issued an official letter of support.
The TVK founder met the Governor at 3.15 pm following an invitation from the Lok Bhavan. He was accompanied by party leaders, including “Bussy” N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, KA Sengottaiyan, CT Nirmal Kumar and others during the meeting. Vijay met the Governor hours after the Congress party declared support and following a meeting between the TVK chief and Congress leaders in Chennai.
The TVK has emerged as the single largest party in Tamil Nadu Assembly, winning 108 seats in the 234-member House. Effectively, the party strength is 107 as Mr Vijay has won from two seats – Perambur and Tiruchi East.
The Congress, a longtime ally of the DMK which contested as a part of the Secular Progressive Alliance in the recently concluded Assembly polls, broke ties with the Dravidian major on Wednesday to align with the TVK. The Congress won five seats in the elections. The TVK still needs the support of five more MLAs to get a simple majority in the House.
The TVK has already reached out to the CPI(M), CPI and VCK, all allies of the DMK – seeking their support to form the government. The three parties are yet to take a call on the TVK’s request. There is no clarity yet on who all apart from the Congress, including independents, would come on board to be part of Team Vijay. The VCK, which won two seats, is holding internal discussions on what to do.
The DMK bagged 59 seats, AIADMK 47, PMK 4, IUML 2, CPI 2, CPI(M) 2, and the BJP, DMDK and AMMK a seat each.
The Left’s four seats – two each from the Communist Party of India, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – are also not out of the equation, though both have asked for time till May 8 to take a call. Despite all this, there’s speculation of an alternate bloc – a TVK and AIADMK alliance that will be more than enough for Vijay’s party to form the next government because the latter party has 47 seats. Of these, at least 30 are said to be interested in supporting the TVK.
The Congress’s Tamil Nadu unit was given full autonomy by the party’s central leadership to take an independent call on whether the party should support the TVK. Tamil Nadu Congress in-charge Girish Chodankar had also announced they would rather support a “secular government” than see the BJP come to power in the southern state.
The Congress made the formal announcement to be a part of the government this morning, following which party workers broke into celebrations by bursting firecrackers at its Tamil Nadu headquarters. It said there’s one condition for its support to the TVK – communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution should be kept out of the alliance.
The DMK said the Congress – with whom it had a formed a pre-election alliance and faced the election together – has “backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu” by deciding to support the TVK. DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said the Congress is “self-destructing” for the sake of two berths in the TVK cabinet.
The Congress’s unilateral decision to support the TVK is a sign that the Opposition bloc INDIA has disintegrated. “There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK,” BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, adding the development is the “last rites” of the INDIA bloc.
The TVK’s massive win in the Tamil Nadu assembly election has brought a tectonic shift in the state’s politics by breaking the DMK and AIADMK’s traditional duopoly. MK Stalin, beaten by the TVK’s VS Babu in Kolathur seat, has already resigned as the chief minister. The AIADMK on Wednesday clarified that it would not support the TVK. This statement from the party was issued following a meeting at Edappadi Palaniswami’s residence.
Vijay has made it clear that he wants his alliance to be secular. So while the AIADMK is an option for alliance partner, the party gets disqualified because of its alliance with the BJP. Sources said around 30 of AIADMK’s 47 MLAs are in favour of joining hands with Vijay, but party chief E Palaniswami is reluctant.
Vijay’s TVK currently has 108 seats. But its effective strength is 106 since Vijay, who holds two seats, will have to quit one and the seat of the Speaker also cannot be counted in case a trust vote is needed. The Speaker can only vote in case of a tie.
Of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu assembly, the DMK bagged 59 seats, AIADMK 47, PMK 4, IUML 2, CPI 2, CPI(M) 2, and the BJP, DMDK and AMMK one seat each.
The AIADMK-BJP has been an on-again-off again relationship. The ties had broken once earlier as the Dravidian party called the BJP a liability in south politics. But ahead of this year’s election, the AIADMK had again renewed ties with the BJP. The move came after the AIADMK, contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with smaller parties, failed to win any seats and Palaniswami learnt his lesson. Whether he is ready to ditch the BJP again and join hands with the TVK is an open question.
Prior to this, the VCK, an ally of DMK, was yet to take a decision on whether to support TVK, the party sources said on Wednesday amidst efforts by Vijay’s party to garner support to form the government in the state.
VCK which has 2 seats, was yet to take a call on it. “It will be decided by our party president, Thol Thirumavalavan,” a senior party functionary said. Meanwhile, CPI(M) candidates R Chellaswamy and Latha and CPI members T Ramachandran and Marimuthu, who won on April 23 Assembly elections, met DMK chief M K Stalin at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters. Similarly, IUML MLAs-elect Syed Farooq Basha SSB and A M Shahjahan also met the DMK president. Later, the CPI(M), CPI and IUML legislators asserted that they would continue to support DMK.