The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Thursday criticized its close ally Congress for showing its willingness to form an alliance with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu.
Vijay’s TVK made a stellar debut in the recently concluded Assembly elections by winning 108 seats, dealing a major blow to MK Stalin’s KDP in Tamil Nadu after the votes were counted and results were announced on May 4. TVK needs 10 more seats to form a stable government. Track updates on TN government formation
While Stalin chaired a meeting of newly elected party MLAs at the DMK headquarters on Thursday, Anna Arivalayam, the party passed four resolutions while criticizing the Congress over its shifting alliance. The meeting strongly condemned the Congress’ decision to move away from the Secular Progressive Alliance, noting that the party had failed to change its “old political character”, ANI reported, citing sources in the DMK.
The Congress on Tuesday decided actor-politician Vijay TVK’s decision in favor of “protecting the Constitution” and secular values. However, Congress support alone still does not give TVK the numbers it needs to breach the threshold in the 243-seat Assembly. The Congress has won five seats, which is still not enough for TVK to reach the halfway point of 118 seats.
What the DMK resolution said in Congress
When the DMK held a meeting with the newly elected MLAs, the party passed four resolutions, including one that accused the Congress of being in league with TVK – the DMK’s direct opponent in Tamil Nadu, while the Congress is a close ally of the Congress in the Hindi opposition bloc.
The resolution said the Congress got one Rajya Sabha seat and 28 Assembly constituencies as part of the DMK-led alliance, and accused the party of shifting towards an alternative front within days by jeopardizing the victory achieved through the hard work of the alliance cadres, news agency ANI reported citing sources.
While the party thanked the people of Tamil Nadu as well as its alliance partners, it allowed Supreme Leader Stalin to take political decisions. The resolution stated that Tamil Nadu was not ready to hold another election and stressed the need for a stable government in the state. She also stressed that forces opposing the principles of the Dravidian movement should not be allowed to get space.
TVK wins big, but it’s not there
Despite TVK’s significant gains in the polls, it lacks the number of seats required to form a stable government. Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar on Thursday also informed Vijay that his party does not have the required support to form the government and the nascent party has meanwhile intensified its efforts to convince the Left parties, VCK and IUML to mobilize them to support the numbers.
“During the meeting, the Governor made it clear that the required majority support in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which is necessary to form the government, has not yet been provided,” Lok Bhavan said in a press release.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvapirunthagai on Thursday held massive protest demonstrations across the district headquarters in Tamil Nadu on Friday, at 11 am, to condemn the BJP-led Union government and Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar for allegedly working against the Constitution by trying to prevent TVK from forming the government.
