At the end of days of political uncertainty, actor and politician C Joseph Vijay Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) finally crossed the elusive halfway mark on Friday and returned to Lok Bhavan after the two Left parties, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) pledged their support.
Like the Congress, the four parties – each with two seats – were Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) voters led by the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).
Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu state minister M Veerapandiyan and Communist Party of India (Marxist) state minister P Shanmugam announced their support for Vijay’s TVK on Friday afternoon, saying it has been decided to keep the BJP out.
“In Indian democracy, ups and downs are normal. People have given a chance to Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam. We formally discussed it with the party committees and decided to extend support,” Veerapandian said at a joint press conference with Shanmugam.
They also said that the leftist parties would not be part of the government and would provide support from outside.
Veerapandiyan said VCK president Thol Thirumavavalavan told them that he would agree with their decision. Later IUML also extended support to Vijay.
The move provides TVK with the critical numbers needed to break the deadlock and pave the way for government formation in Tamil Nadu. The messages of support came minutes before his third meeting with Governor Rajendra Arlikar.
Lok Bhavan (formerly known as Raj Bhavan) did not invite the TVK leader to form the government on the grounds that his party had only 107 legislators and lacked a simple majority, even after the Congress had earlier extended its support to its five legislators.
Shanmugam said the governor should have invited TVK after Vijay announced his demand on Wednesday as it was the single largest party and there was a risk of central rule being imposed if the elected government was not formed by May 10.
“In the current situation, if a government is not formed by May 10, governor’s rule is the only practical possibility,” he said, stressing that central rule would essentially be BJP rule through the back door.
“The most important goal of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance is to defeat the BJP-AIADMK alliance,” Shanmugam said, stressing that they have not deviated from their beliefs.
“With an aim to frustrate the BJP’s objective, the CPI(M) and CPI(M) have decided to extend support to TVK to form the government. At the same time, we will not participate in the Cabinet. Both the parties have decided to extend support from outside,” he said.
National Secretary of the Communist Party of India, Dr. Raja said the decision was taken “to establish a stable secular government.”
Although TVK won 108 seats, it has an effective strength of 107 legislators since Vijay won from two seats, Tiruchirappalli East or Perambur. The five Congress MLAs and eight MLAs from the four minor parties take the strength of the TVK-led alliance to 120 members, far beyond the 117-member majority mark required to form the government in the 233-member house.
