TN govt formation: Vijay gets CPI, VCK support, to meet governor again

The Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s (TVK) efforts to gather support for government formation in Tamil Nadu received a boost on Friday, 8 May after the CPI and VCK extended support to the fledgling party, even as actor-politician Vijay was set to meet Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra V. Arlekar again in his bid to stake claim to power.

While the CPI formally backed the TVK, another Left ally, CPI(M), was expected to announce its decision later in the day. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) had initially said it would reveal its stand on Saturday after internal consultations, but announced its support on Friday.

Following a meeting chaired by state secretary M. Veerapandian, the CPI decided to extend support and submitted an “unconditional letter of support for government formation” to the governor, party sources said.

The TVK, which emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, 10 short of the majority mark, reached out to CPI, CPI(M) and VCK — all allies of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) — seeking support after its strong debut in the 23 April Assembly election.

The CPI, CPI(M) and VCK secured two seats each, while the Congress, another DMK ally that won five seats, had earlier extended support to Vijay. With this, the TVK now has the support of 118 MLAs, past the halfway mark required for a majority.

According to official sources, Vijay is scheduled to meet the governor on Friday evening over government formation. This will be his third meeting with the governor in as many days. A TVK source said Vijay was likely to reiterate his claim to form the government.

Meanwhile, VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan had earlier said the party’s high-level committee would meet via video conference at 5.00 pm on Friday to discuss the prevailing “political crisis” in Tamil Nadu and chart its future course.

Responding to questions on his recent meeting with DMK president and outgoing chief minister M.K. Stalin, Thirumavalavan said the VCK remained part of the SPA and described the interaction as a courtesy call between alliance partners.

Elsewhere, the Congress staged a protest against the governor for not inviting Vijay to form the government. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Girish Chodankar and party workers took part in the agitation.

Under Election Commission norms, Vijay will also have to resign from one of the two constituencies he won in the election.

With media inputs