Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlikar’s office on Thursday sought to defend his decision not to invite the Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) party to form the government, saying TVK chief C Joseph Vijay had not demonstrated that his party has a majority in the state assembly.
The statement, the first from Arlikar’s office, came after Vijay met the governor on Thursday, their second meeting in two days, to reiterate his claim that he should be invited to form the government.
“During the meeting, the Governor made it clear that the required majority support was not provided in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which is necessary to form the government,” the governor’s office said.
TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, 10 short of a simple majority. He also has the support of the five lawmakers in Congress.
Legal expert Vijayan Subramanian on Wednesday asserted that the governor should have invited Vijay immediately, which created confusion.
“In S. Bommai v. Union of India, the Supreme Court categorically held that the question of majority should ordinarily be tested only on the floor of the Legislative Assembly and not by the personal or subjective assessment of the Governor,” Subramanian said.
On Thursday, several political leaders also joined the chorus in support of TVK’s demand that it should be invited to form the government.
Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty shared a video of a TVK supporter expressing his disappointment over the delay in Vijay’s swearing-in ceremony. This reflects the larger sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu, Chakravarty said.
“Any attempts to betray or delay this clear mandate of the people for TVK will lead to dire consequences and erode democratic faith among the people,” he said in a post on X.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary P Shanmugam said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had acted against constitutional norms in the past to achieve its political goals.
“Continuing this, the Governor of Tamil Nadu has kept delaying without summoning him to take oath of office. This is unacceptable. Since no one else has come forward to claim to form the government, the Communist Party of India-Marxist urges the Governor to immediately extend an invitation to take oath of office to TVK which has emerged as the single largest party,” it said in a party statement.
In a social media post, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai questioned why TVK was not speaking out about the delay.
“What is really puzzling is why TVK does not question the governor’s actions, if they believe his actions are cautious,” he said.
“Why are there no questions against the BJP which controls the governor? Is this a sign of lack of courage? Everyone is questioning the governor,” he added.
BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathi said everything will happen in a democratic manner and stressed that no party has a clear mandate.
“I don’t think there is any confusion with Lok Bhavan or the Governor. He will abide by the Constitution. He will follow the rule book,” he said, adding that the way people cast their votes reflected this outcome. He added: “As a result, voters voted in such a way that no party obtained an absolute majority.”
He added: “According to our constitutional framework, the party that obtains the largest number of seats, specifically more than half of the total, and obtains the necessary support or backing, is the one who has the right to form the government, but unfortunately, in this case, no party obtained a majority.”
“One thing is becoming increasingly clear. TVK’s biggest political mistake was bringing Congress into its alliance first. The move appears to have sparked an aggressive response from the BJP, which the governor now appears to be using to delay the swearing-in process,” senior journalist SP Stalin said.
