Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar’s office on Thursday sought to defend its decision not to invite the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to form the government, saying that TVK chief C Joseph Vijay had not proven that his party had the majority in the state assembly.
The statement, the first from Arlekar’s office, came after Vijay met the governor on Thursday, their second meeting in two days, to reiterate his claim that he should be invited to form the government.
“During the meeting, the Hon’ble Governor explained that the requisite majority support in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, essential for forming the Government, has not been established,” the governor’s office said.
The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, 10 short of a simple majority. He also has the support of the Congress’s five lawmakers.
Legal expert Vijayan Subramanian on Wednesday underlined that the governor should have right away invited Vijay and had created confusion.
“In SR Bommai versus Union of India, the Supreme Court categorically held that the question of majority must ordinarily be tested only on the floor of the legislative assembly and not through the Governor’s personal or subjective assessment,” Subramanian said.
On Thursday, several political leaders also joined the chorus in support of the TVK’s claim that it should be invited to form the government.
Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty shared a video of a TVK supporter expressing disappointment over the delay in Vijay’s oath ceremony. Chakravarty said it reflected the larger sentiment of the people of Tamil Nadu.
“Any attempts to betray or delay this crystal clear mandate of the people for TVK will lead to dire consequences and erosion of democratic faith among people,” he said in a post on X.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary P Shanmugam said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had acted against constitutional norms in the past to fulfil its political objectives.
“In continuation with this, the Governor of Tamil Nadu has been delaying without calling him to take the oath of office. This is not acceptable. Since no one else has staked a claim to form the government, the CPI Marxist urges the Governor to immediately extend an invitation to take the oath of office to TVK which has emerged as the single largest party,” he said in a party statement.
In a social media post, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai wondered why the TVK hadn’t spoken out on the delay.
“What is really baffling is why TVK is not questioning the actions of the Governor, if they think his actions are circumspect,” he said.
“Why no questions against the BJP who controls the Governor? Is this a sign of lack of courage? Everyone else is questioning the Governor,” he added.
BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said everything would happen in a democratic way and underlined that no party had a clear mandate.
“I do not think there is any confusion with the Lok Bhavan or the governor. He will go by the Constitution. He will go by rule book”, he said, adding that the way people have cast their votes reflects this outcome. “Consequently, the electorate has voted in such a way that no single party has secured an absolute majority,” he said.
“According to our Constitutional framework, the party that secures the highest number of seats, specifically, more than half of the total and got the necessary support or backing is entitled to form the government. However, unfortunately, in this instance, no party has secured a majority,” he added.
Senior journalist SP Stalin said, “One thing is becoming increasingly clear. TVK’s biggest political blunder was bringing the Congress into its alliance first. That move appears to have triggered the BJP’s aggresive response with the Governor now seemingly being used to delay the swearing-in process.”
