Avoid President's Rule, Stop BJP By Backdoor: How TVK's Vijay Made Breakthrough In Receiving VCK And IUML's Support

Tamil Nadu Government Formation: Following the announcement of Tamil Nadu Assembly election results on May 4, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single largest party, winning 108 seats in a 234-member Assembly. Despite this mandate, the party fell short of a clear majority, leading to five days of intense political negotiations. Those who eventually chose to support Vijay did so mostly because they were afraid of what might happen otherwise, rather than because of confidence in his leadership.

They mainly wanted to avoid two things: President's Rule, and the Centre's ruling BJP gaining more control. This fear remained a major factor even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won one seat in the new, 17th Tamil Nadu assembly.

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Fear Of President's Rule

When no party can prove a majority in a state assembly, the Governor may recommend to the President that the state cannot be governed constitutionally. Under Article 356 of the Constitution, the President can step in and run the state directly from New Delhi, either suspending or dissolving the state assembly.

According to Hindustan Times, in Tamil Nadu, with its fierce tradition of state autonomy and deep suspicion of the central government, the prospect of President's rule was, for most regional parties, politically unacceptable. At least one of the parties backing Vijay admitted so.

There was also a hard deadline: the previous assembly's tenure formally is set to end on May 10. If no government had taken the oath by then, President's Rule would have kicked in automatically.

Congress Made The First Move

The Indian National Congress (INC) made the first major move on Wednesday by ditching a long-standing alliance with the DMK and extending the support of its five MLAs. However, the support came with conditions.

In a statement signed by AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, the party clarified, "Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out of this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India." The reference was to the BJP, a junior partner of the AIADMK, their NDA alliance having finished third.

Not just this, the Congress also announced state-wide protests against Governor Rajendra Arlekar. State Unit President K Selvaperunthagai said, "Governments are not decided on the lawns of Lok Bhavan. They are decided on the floor of the House."

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The Left Joins The Fold

On May 8, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPI (Marxist) held state committee meetings and reached the same decision as the Congress. The CPI issued a formal letter offering 'unconditional support' to TVK to form a government in Tamil Nadu.

CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said, "We have given our support; it is our democratic duty. This is a people's democracy. We will stand with democracy, we will stand with people."

"At present, TVK is the only party in a position to form the government. To prevent the BJP from coming to power indirectly, we have decided to support TVK," the CPI(M) said. The two parties contributed two seats each, taking the total tally to 116.

VCK Extends Support

VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan, whose two seats were the most debated during the talks, was the most direct of all the leaders when he finally spoke.

"We have to support Vijay to avoid President's Rule. We would not be an obstacle for Vijay to form the government. These are the two reasons for which we extended our support. There is no other political justification," he said.

He further stated, "We don't believe that they are secular or non-secular. We don't bother about that."

His support was seen as a turning point, effectively ending days of suspense and providing the TVK with the final numbers required to form a government.

IUML's Stand

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) took the most unusual position of all. Party leader KAM Muhammed Abubacker declared that they would support the TVK to help form the government while simultaneously stating that the IUML would remain within the DMK-led alliance.

"There is no change. Still, the Indian Union Muslim League Tamil Nadu State Committee is continuing in the DMK-led alliance. We have given support to TVK to form the government... Without our support, they can't form the government. We are exercising our democratic right. We discussed this with them (DMK)," he said.

The IUML's two seats took the final tally to 120.

(With PTI Inputs)