Game of thrones in Tamil Nadu took a new turn on Friday after a dispute emerged between Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) over a letter of support for the former.
Amid the suspense over who will lead Tamil Nadu after the recent elections resulted in a hung Assembly, TVK – now one short of the magic number of 118 MLAs – submitted a letter of support from AMMK’s lone MLA to the Governor on Friday.
but, AMMK president TTV Dinakaran, whose party is an ally of the NDA, termed it a “fraud” and a case of “horse trading”. TVK also responded, accusing Dinakaran of spreading “misinformation”.
AMMK-TVK support row
The dispute started when the AMMK president TTV Dhinakaran responded to a letter reportedly from the party’s lone MLA S Kamaraj, which reached Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar, extending support to Vijay’s TVK to form the government.
According to Dinakaran, the only MLA elected from the AMMK remains loyal to the NDA and AIADMK, the message was a case of “horse trading and fraud”. He even formally supported AIADMK’s Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) for the CM post, calling him the legitimate candidate of the alliance.
Dinakaran then rushed to Lok Bhavan later on Friday to deliver a letter to the governor in a bid to correct the record.
Speaking to the media after the meeting with the Governor, TTV Dhinakaran said that he had written a letter in support of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami earlier in the day, and it was signed by the elected MLA of AMMK, Kamaraj S.
“It appears that TVK has provided what appears to be a copy of our MLA’s letter of support, which is actually a forged letter. So, I have asked the governor to investigate the matter. We will also go to the police station to file a complaint about the forged letter issued in the name of my MLA. Since we only have one MLA, they thought they could easily misuse it to form the government. The governor took the matter seriously and said he would take necessary steps. We urged him not to allow these people involved in fraud to form the government,” he said.
Vijay’s TVK responds
However, TVK refuted the ‘fake letter’ claim and shared a video, stating that AMMK leader Kamaraj had supported the party in forming the government.
TVK also accused Dinakaran of spreading misleading information while concealing the relevant facts. The party, which won 108 seats in the ballot boxes and did not achieve a majority of 118 seats, stressed that it did not need to “bargain or negotiate” to obtain support.
“These are the pictures of AMMK MLA Kamaraj voluntarily and happily writing a letter expressing his support to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. He stated that he was extending support to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam with the approval of AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran,” TVK stated.
“However, the information being spread now that he did not write the letter is completely false and contradicts the truth. It is necessary for everyone to understand this clearly. By hiding all these facts, TTV Dhinakaran continues to spread fake news and misinformation. The public must understand that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam does not need to bargain or negotiate with anyone,” TVK also said.
Tamil Nadu Maths for next CM
TVK, which won 108 seats, sought support from several smaller camps to reach the magic number of 118 seats in the 234-seat assembly.
The CPI, CPI(M), which has two seats each, and the Congress, which has five seats, have already extended their support to the Vijay-led TVK to push ahead with the change from the traditional Dravidian DMK-AIADMK duopoly.
This means that Vijay needs just one more seat to reach the majority mark and become the first non-voterDMK and non-AIADMK chief minister of the state since 1967. This one seat is expected to come from Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), who is yet to formally announce his support.
