TVK stakes claim to form Tamil Nadu govt; Governor not satisfied with numbers

Chennai: TVK chief Vijay met Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan on Wednesday and staked claim to form the government in the state after winning 108 seats on Monday. Preparations are underway for the actor-turned-politician’s oath-taking ceremony which was supposed to happen on Thursday. However, reports suggested that it may not take place as the governor was not convinced with the numbers.

Vijay’s meeting with the governor came soon after Congress provided conditional support to the party, severing its longstanding ties with DMK. Congress MLAs, led by the party’s state in-charge Girish Chodankar, met Vijay in Chennai and handed over their letter of support to him. Later, Chodankar said Vijay spoke to and thanked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and general secretary KC Venugopal.

“We hope more parties will extend support to TVK. We hope the governor will invite him to be sworn in as CM. We will be taking accountability for the new government also,” Chodankar said. Congress, which won five seats, said it would support TVK on condition that no ‘communal forces’ will be part of the alliance, which could mean parties aligned with BJP like AIADMK.

Ex-ally DMK termed Congress “backstabbers and a very unstable partner”. Congress MP Manickam Tagore, however, said the party faced collateral damage by being associated with the Dravidian major.

SETBACK FOR TVK on Tieup front

TVK faced a setback on Wednesday when the Left parties and the Indian Union Muslim League ruled out their support for the party.
While talks were underway with AIADMK, the Dravidian major which has won 47 seats ruled out support for the party. AIADMK deputy general secretary KP Munusamy said AIADMK is a major political movement and dismissed reports of extending support to Vijay. Munusamy said the announcement was made with the approval of party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami. This leaves VCK and PMK as possible allies for TVK since Congress has pledged conditional support.
In an unexpected turn of events, talk of a possible AIADMK-DMK tieup surfaced. The arch rivals reportedly discussed potential partnership. But a DMK source said it was not workable. “DMK leadership, including Stalin, is not on board with the idea,” this person told ET. “The only one who is keen is (deputy CM) Udhayanidhi. But it is not feasible… AIADMK has been our political opponent. The party cadre will be up in arms if we join hands with them.”