Tamil Nadu Political Twist: According to TVK sources, if DMK or AIADMK claims to form a new government in the state, all 108 TVK MLAs will resign.
Tamil Nadu Political Twist: A new twist has come in the politics of the southern state Tamil Nadu. Actor Vijay’s party TVK, which emerged as the largest party in the assembly elections, has warned that all its 108 MLAs will resign if DMK and AIADMK try to form a new government in the state. Quoting sources, the NDTV report said that TVK has taken this decision today, just after two important meetings held in the DMK and AIADMK camps. TVK warned on Thursday evening that if either of the two Dravidian parties i.e. M.K. If Stalin’s DMK or E. Palaniswami’s AIADMK tried to stake claim to form the government in Tamil Nadu, all the party MLAs would resign.
Let us tell you that in the recent elections, TVK has won 108 seats, out of which Vijay himself has won two seats. In this sense, it has a total of 107 MLAs. The party argues that being the largest party, the Governor should invite their leader Vijay to form the government but so far the Governor has not done so. However, Thalapathy Vijay has met the Governor twice in two days and staked claim to form the government. Despite this, the Governor did not invite him but instead sought letters of support from 118 MLAs.
Vijay has 113 MLAs
In fact, TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly in the elections held on April 23 and emerged as the largest party. Although the Congress, which has five MLAs, has supported TVK, the party led by actor-turned-politician Vijay is still a few seats short of the majority mark of 118 in the House. Meanwhile, TVK leader CTR Nirmal Kumar met Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary M Veerapandian and Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary P Shanmugam in Chennai today. During this, he sought the support of both the parties in government formation in Tamil Nadu and insisted on sharing in power but till now none of these parties has supported TVK.
CPM supported Vijay
Meanwhile, DMK sources said party president and outgoing Chief Minister MK Stalin at a meeting expressed his desire to the leaders of the alliance parties, including the Left, that they should remain part of the secular progressive alliance. Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary MA Baby on Thursday called on Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to invite TVK to form the government following democratic traditions as it is the single largest party in the hung assembly.
questions on the governor
On the political impasse in Tamil Nadu, the CPI(M) general secretary argued that in the absence of a clear majority or in the event of a pre-poll alliance not reaching a majority, the leader of the single largest party should be sworn in (into the government) as per constitutional convention. He gave the example of the invitation given to veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996. Questioning the delay in the invitation, Baby said, “The office of the Governor should be beyond doubt.” He demanded that TVK leader Vijay be given proper time to prove his majority in the Assembly.
BJP came to the defense of the Governor
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Narayanan Tirupati claimed that all the processes related to government formation will be done democratically and the Governor will follow the rules. The BJP leader said, “I don’t think there is any confusion about Raj Bhavan or the Governor.” He (Governor) will take steps as per the Constitution. He will follow the rules.” On the other hand, TVK workers protested outside Lok Bhavan on Thursday demanding Governor Arlekar to allow party chief Vijay to form the government. The protesters also claimed that TVK has emerged as the largest party with 108 MLAs and as per the Constitution, it is the duty of the Governor to call Vijay to form the government.
DMK angry at Congress
Meanwhile, the DMK strongly criticized Congress’s exit from the party-led alliance and accused it of “stabbing in the back” and “betraying” Tamil Nadu. DMK said that on the other hand, party president M.K. Stalin has shown maturity and responsible behaviour. Party president and outgoing Chief Minister Stalin chaired a meeting of newly elected DMK MLAs, which passed a resolution strongly criticizing the Congress’s “opportunistic political inclinations”.
The resolution said, “Congress has done to us in Tamil Nadu what the BJP does in many states. This shows that the Congress Party has not changed its old character. In our alliance, Congress was allotted one Rajya Sabha seat and 28 assembly seats. By supporting another party within three days, it jeopardized the hard-earned victory of its old coalition partners.” (With language inputs)
