Chennai:
The wait continues for superstar Vijay to head Tamil Nadu’s first-ever coalition government. His Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party is holding final negotiations with the VCK, AMMK, and an IUML MLA to confirm their support before they could stake claim to the government, sources say.
Some other smaller parties in the state have already backed Vijay. The Congress has offered conditional support and expects two ministerial berths, sources had earlier said.
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The left parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM), have also backed Vijay but decided to stay out of the cabinet.
“If the government is not formed by 10th May, Governor’s rule will be imposed. In Tamil Nadu, Governor’s rule is like the BJP entering through back door. To stop this, CPI and CPI(M) have decided to support TVK. We will not be in the cabinet. Just to ensure there is no re-election, we took this decision,” CPI(M) state secretary TT Shanmugam told reporters today.
The CPI and CPM—having two MLAs each—had been DMK allies and were given a free hand by DMK chief MK Stalin to decide on their alliances based on their political interests.
Besides, Vijay had also claimed the support of one of the two IUML MLAs and the lone winning candidate of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), led by politician TTV Dhinakaran.
Read: ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay Wins Again. TVK Crosses 118-Mark With VCK, Left Support
On its own, the TVK had won 108 seats in the Tamil Nadu elections, while the DMK was reduced to just 59 and the AIADMK could win only 47 seats. The TVK’s strength in the assembly would go up to 121 if he manages to bring all the smaller allies to its side, well past the 118 halfway mark.