Chennai: After three days of drama and deadlock over numbers, actor-politician Vijay’s obstacle to the chief minister’s chair has finally been removed.
Despite emerging as single largest party in the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Vijay’s two-year-old Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) fell agonisingly short of the halfway mark. Needing 118 seats to gain majority, TVK won 108, which included Vijay’s win
s from 2 constituencies.
So effectively, TVK’s number was 107. After the Congress decided to back the TVK with their 5 legislators, TVK still fell 6 short.
On Friday, the Communist Party of India (CPI), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) came on board with their two seats each to push TVK’s tally to 118, even if one of Vijay’s seat is not counted.
Amid the uncertainty, Vijay made two trips to the Lok Bhavan earlier this week to stake his claim for government formation, only to be sent back by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. The Governor asked TVK to show support from at least 118 MLAs before he could invite the Tamil superstar to form a new government in Tamil Nadu.
Vijay will be third time lucky when he calls on Governor Arlekar on Friday evening.