Chennai: After securing a thin majority in the Tamil Nadu assembly with support from Congress, CPI-M, CPI, VCK and IUML, TVK chief Vijay finally met Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar at Lok Bhavan on Saturday evening .
This is Vijay’s fourth meeting since the results were announced on May 4.
With the support of five parties, the numbers in favour of TVK rose to 120, just two more than the simple majority mark of 118 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly.
The suspense ended when the Thol.Thirumavalavan-led Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, which has two seats, finally extended support after keeping the TVK on tenterhooks and the political circles abuzz over its stand. VCK, a long-time ally of the Left parties who had extended their support to Vijay on Friday, had earlier announced its decision would be in line with their stand.
Shortly after VCK decides to back Vijay, another DMK ally, the IUML also extended support to TVK. the IUML has two MLAs.
With the two small parties’ support, the numbers in favour of TVK rose to 120, just two more than the simple majority mark of 118 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly.
The Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam faced serious allegations when NDA constituent AMMK accused it of alleged bid aimed at horse-trading. MLAs belonging to Congress, which has extended support to the TVK, have shifted to Hyderabad.
After the Left parties declared unconditional support to TVK to form the government, asserting it was to prevent BJP’s backdoor entry through Governor and to respect the people’s mandate, VCK founder Thirumavalavan immediately went into a huddle with his party office-bearers through video-conferencing on Friday.
While it was expected that the VCK would announce its stand on Saturday morning, the party revealed its decision later in the day. There were unverified reports of some hard bargaining between TVK and VCK, possibly over ministerial allocations, but there was no official confirmation from either side.
Vijay, however, has been open to accommodating allies in his cabinet, in sync with VCK’s stated position of power-sharing.
