CHENNAI: The atmosphere within the Tamil Nadu Vaananai Kazhagham (TVK) shifted from optimism to concern by Wednesday evening, as the party led by C Joseph Vijay faced a shortfall of five seats required to form a government in the 234-member assembly, despite receiving support from the Congress party.
TVK sources revealed that the governor has requested formal letters of support from a sufficient number of MLAs before determining the date for the swearing-in ceremony, which had been scheduled for Thursday. Earlier in the day, Congress leaders visited Vijay at the TVK headquarters in Panaiyur to deliver letters of support from their five MLAs.
Vijay subsequently met with Governor R V Arlekar to express his intention to form the government. However, with no feedback from the Governor’s office by late evening, TVK’s Aadhav Arjuna made another attempt to engage Arlekar.
In a related development, the AIADMK has reportedly relocated its MLAs to a resort in Puducherry. Unconfirmed reports indicated that discussions were ongoing between the DMK and AIADMK regarding the current situation. Additionally, Congress faced criticism from DMK for allegedly “betraying voters and abandoning a long-standing alliance.”
By the end of the day, TVK continued to seek the necessary numbers, having engaged in discussions with parties across both rival coalitions. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which has two MLAs, announced it would not support TVK. Other allies of DMK, including VCK, CPI, CPM (each with two MLAs), and DMDK (with one MLA), have yet to make a definitive commitment. The AIADMK, which had previously initiated talks with TVK, also denied any support, with party deputy general secretary K P Munusamy clarifying that “under no circumstance has AIADMK offered support to TVK,” following a meeting chaired by general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami involving their 47 new MLAs.
