Second Supreme Court plea filed against Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar over refusal to invite Vijay to form govt

A former IPS officer on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's refusal to invite C. Joseph Vijay to form the government despite the TVK becoming the single largest party in the state.

The plea was filed by retired IPS officer M. Ramasubramani, who served as an Additional Director General of Police and the Inspector General of Police.

He claimed that the governor's decision was unconstitutional, and that the TVK could not be denied the chance to prove its majority through a floor test.

This is the second such Supreme Court petition filed in connection with the stalemate in Tamil Nadu, and comes hours before Governor Arlekar asked the TVK chief to meet him at the Lok Bhavan on Monday.

The unexpected deferral to Monday has prolonged the uncertainty over the TVK forming the government, because Vijay was expected to meet the governor today, after finally obtaining the support of 120 MLAs—crossing the majority mark of 118 that had stalled his swearing-in ceremony so far.

The TVK crossed the 118 mark after the VCK's Thol Thirumavalavan announced just hours ago that his party would provide unconditional support to Vijay's party to avoid President's rule in the state.

However, the VCK also added that it would be continuing its association with M.K. Stalin's DMK.

The TVK now has support from five Congress MLAs, two each from the Left parties, two from the IUML, and now, two from the VCK.

Notably, before the ex-IPS officer's plea, the uncertainty over Vijay forming the government had also led to a petitioner named Ezhilarasi K. filing a similar Supreme Court plea seeking directions to the Tamil Nadu Governor to invite Vijay to form the government.

However, the TVK had denied any link to the petitioner, who had claimed that she was an active member of the party, an ANI report said, citing sources within Vijay's party.