TVK chief Vijay on Wednesday met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and staked his claim to form the government in the state, two days after his party emerged as the single-largest party but fell short of a simple majority.
His party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly in the recently held elections. The TVK still needs at least 10 more seats to reach the majority mark of 118.
The next step will be for Vijay to prove his government’s majority on the floor of the House.
The Congress party, a long-time ally of the DMK, has announced its support to the TVK to form the government in the state and has severed ties with the Dravidian major. However, it was not immediately known who else has extended support to Vijay’s party.
Even with the Congress’s support, the actor-turned-politician will continue to fall short, as the party secured only five seats in the election.
Vijay is likely to take oath as Chief Minister on May 7, according to party sources.
The DMK won 59 seats, AIADMK 47, Congress 5, PMK 4, IUML 2, CPI 2, VCK 2, and CPI(M) 2. The BJP, DMDK and AMMK won one seat each.
The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) have decided to extend full support to the TVK to form the government, AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar said, citing Vijay’s request for support.
The Congress, however, set a condition, asking the TVK to ensure that communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India are kept out of the alliance.
Meanwhile, the DMK has termed the Congress’s decision to snap ties and join forces with the TVK as “backstabbing.”
