Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Wednesday gave Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) 48 hours to prove its majority in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Vijay informed Arlekar that he has support of 113 MLAs, including five from Congress, but the governor told the TVK chief to come back with 118 MLAs.
The development occurred when TVK chief Vijay met the governor to stake claim to form government in the state as his party emerged as the single largest party.
With TVK falling short of a simple majority, there are speculations whether Vijay will be sworn in as chief minister on May 7. Having won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, TVK needs support of 10 more MLAs.
Vijay has reached out to DMK allies Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI(M) and IUML. Only Congress, which has five MLAs, has publicly announced its support to TVK.
While the IUML already asserted that it will continue alliance with the DMK, CPI and CPI(M) have ruled out support to TVK. IUML, CPI and CPI(M) have two seats each.
IUML's winning candidates Syed Farooq Basha SSB and A.M. Shahjahan as well as CPI(M) MLAs-elect R. Chellaswamy and Latha, CPI MLAs-elect T. Ramachandra and Marimuthu have met DMK chief MK Stalin at the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam. Following this, they said they will stay in alliance with the DMK.
VCK, another ally of DMK, has two seats in the assembly. A senior party functionary said party president Thol. Thirumavalavan will take a call on the alliance.
While Vijay has 48 hours to prove his majority, it remains to be seen whether the Left parties would change their mind.
AIADMK, which has 47 seats, expressed its intention to support TVK government from outside. AIADMK leader Kovai Sathyan said the "ball is in Vijay's court" regarding a potential alliance. "There is absolutely no question of the AIADMK splitting. Everyone is in common consensus, and the majority decision will be taken by the high command," he said.