Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, who rejected actor-turned-politician Vijay’s claim to form a government until he proves his majority, has cleared the air regarding his decision, stating his role was to “advance democracy” and not “stop anyone from taking office”.
After a meeting with Vijay on Thursday, the statement issued by the Governor's Office said Vijay did not show the majority required to form the government.
In this regard, Arlekar told a national news channel that he asked Vijay for the support of 118 MLAs to form the government and a letter to that effect. “I ask the same thing from whoever claims the right to form the government as a particular party or alliance, whether they have the majority of 118 seats.
“A call to form a government without 118 seats cannot be made. A government without a majority cannot be allowed to form a government and engage in horse-trading,” he said.
On the verdict in the S.R. Bommai case, Arlekar said it is not related to forming a new government. The 1994 landmark Supreme Court verdict in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India had restricted the misuse of Article 356 (President's Rule) by declaring that the majority of a government must be tested on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, not based on the subjective opinion of the Governor.
Arlekar clarified: “I am not here to stop anyone from taking office. I am here to advance democracy. A democratically elected person should not be stopped. I am ready to call for immediate inauguration if he comes with a majority. But the current situation makes it impossible to do so. This is not a matter of my personal preference," he said.
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“But Vijay does not have the majority. How can anyone say that I am stopping Vijay from forming the government? I have no objection to inviting Vijay to form the government. If a decision is not reached in the next 2 or 3 days, I will discuss the next steps,” he added.
Meanwhile, the hol Thirumavalavan-led VCK and the Left parties will meet on Friday to make a crucial decision on supporting Vijay's TVK in government formation. VCK has been a trusted ally of the DMK, facing several elections together. The party has secured two seats in the April 23 Assembly election.
As for CPI(M), its state secretary P Shanmugam has already made a strong pitch for Vijay to assume office as chief minister without delay. He urged Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to allow Vijay to form the government. "Accordingly, only the TVK leader, C Joseph Vijay, has staked a claim to form the government. The BJP has been following an approach of acting against the Constitution through Governors and using them to fulfil its political objectives. As a continuation of this, the Governor of Tamil Nadu has been delaying and refusing to invite him to assume office. This is unacceptable," Shanmugam said in a statement.
