Deadlock ends in TN, Vijay to be sworn in as CM today

PTI

Chennai

Days of uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu ended on Saturday with TVK clinching key support to cross the magic 118 majority mark in the Tamil Nadu Assembly and party founder-chief Chandrasekar Joseph Vijay will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state on May 10.

A top-rated actor-politician, the 51-year-old Vijay will be sworn in as the CM at the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here at 10 am on Sunday, the Lok Bhavan said.

Capping days of hectic parleying to shore up numbers to usher in the first non-DMK, non-AIADMDK government in nearly 70 years, Vijay finally managed to secure the support of four MLAs of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Saturday.

With the two small parties’ support, the numbers in favour of the TVK rose to 120, just two more than the simple majority mark of 118 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Later, he headed to the Lok Bhavan for his fourth meeting with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in as many days to discuss government formation, before the latter appointed Vijay as CM and invited him to form ministry.

TVK workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets and gathered in large numbers in party office to celebrate.

The VCK and  IUML extended “unconditional support,” to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.

DMK’s allies, including the VCK, have made it clear that they continue to be part of the Dravidian party led alliance.

Quickly after the VCK and  IUML gave to the TVK letters of support addressed to the Governor, Vijay went to the Lok Bhavan along with leaders from ally Congress  and supporting parties, including the Left and VCK, and handed over the letters to Arlekar.

Parties, including the VCK, will not be part of the government and they offer “outside support”.

After deliberations, Arlekar presented to Vijay a letter appointing him as the Chief Minister and asked him to form the government, a Lok Bhavan press release said.

Vijay called on the Governor at Lok Bhavan and submitted a letter informing about his election as the leader of the TVK legislature party.

The Governor accepting Vijay’s claim to form government, appointed him as the CM as per the constitutional norms and asked him to form the ministry. He also asked the TVK chief to face the vote of confidence on or before May 13.

The suspense over government formation ended when the Thol Thirumavalavan-led VCK, which has two seats, finally extended support after keeping the TVK on tenterhooks and the political circles abuzz over its stand over the last two days.

VCK, a long time ally of the Left parties who had extended their support to Vijay on Friday, had earlier announced its decision would be in sync with their stand.

Shortly after VCK’s decision to back Vijay, another DMK ally, the IUML also extended support to the TVK.

The IUML has two MLAs.

While it was expected that the VCK would announce its stand on Saturday morning, the party revealed its decision later in the day. There were unverified reports of some hard-bargaining between the TVK and VCK, possibly over ministerial allocations, but there was no official confirmation from either sides.

Vijay, however, has been open to accommodate allies in his cabinet, in sync with VCK’s stated position of power-sharing.

The Vijay-led TVK also faced serious allegations when NDA constituent AMMK accused it of alleged bid aimed at horse-trading. MLAs belonging to the Congress, which has extended support to the TVK, have shifted to Hyderabad.