Tamil Nadu BJP has accepted defeat by winning 1 seat and has excluded itself from the government formation process. At the same time, TVK, which won 108 seats, is very close to forming a new government with the support of Congress and Left parties.
After the results of Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made its stand absolutely clear regarding government formation in the state. Tamil Nadu BJP state president Nainar Nagendran on Friday clarified that his party has accepted the election results graciously. The saffron party has also decided that it will neither be a part of any effort to form government in the state nor will it support any party.
BJP’s official stance and respect for mandate
BJP state president Nainar Nagendran, while talking to news agency ANI, also clarified the position on the future steps of the party. BJP has won only one seat in this election. Nagendran said that BJP had entered the election field with full enthusiasm with the aim of welfare and development of the people of Tamil Nadu. He admitted that the public has not given the mandate to BJP to form the government.
Decision to remain neutral: BJP has made it clear that they will not actively participate in any effort to form a new government and will not cast their vote to any party trying to form the government. The party has also issued an official letter accepting its defeat wholeheartedly and reiterating that the Tamil Nadu BJP will completely distance itself from any direct or indirect process of government formation. Clearing the party’s stand, he said, “We also want to inform the people that we will not cast our vote in support of any party involved in the efforts to form the government.”
TVK’s efforts to form government
Amidst this statement of BJP, efforts to form a new government in the state are going on at a rapid pace.
Largest party: ‘Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’ (TVK) has performed brilliantly in these elections and emerged as the largest party with 108 seats.
Alliance attempt: TVK is now trying to form its government in the state. For this, the party has effectively garnered the support of parties like Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Marxist Communist Party (CPI-M).
Important role of VCK and mathematics of assembly
The race is on to reach the magic figure to form the government in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. The role of small parties has become very important in this.
VCK meeting: The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) party is holding an important meeting of one of its “high-level committees” to decide on the issue of supporting TVK or not.
Mathematics of MLAs: CPI, CPI(M) and VCK, all three parties have 2-2 MLAs in the Assembly.
Step towards majority: If VCK also extends its support to TVK, then all these parties together can take the TVK-led alliance to the required majority figure to form the government in the 234-member assembly.
In short, while on one hand BJP has taken itself out of the race for power and has accepted the role of opposition/neutral, on the other hand TVK seems to be getting very close to forming the next government in Tamil Nadu with the support of other parties.