There appears to be a new twist in the hunt for allies in the fractured mandate in Tamil Nadu. With coalition being the only way of governance, superstar Vijay’s failure to secure majority despite scoring an electoral blockbuster may pave the way for an unexpected chief ministerial face. And if sources are to be believed, that may be Thol Thirumavalavan, the chief of VCK.
Sounds odd? After all, the VCK secured just two out of the total 234 seats. That represents less than 1% of the total assembly strength. Then welcome to coalition politics – where the impossible may become possible in a fraction of second.
What We Know So Far
The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) is at the centre of the uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu. The TVK, the single largest party, currently has 116 MLA-elects in its favour and needs the backing of two more MLAs to secure majority.
The VCK has two MLAs – if they agree to support Vijay, the TVK can go ahead with forming the government. The TVK is expected to make its stand clear at 4 pm today.
Sources suggest the delay is due to the absence of one of the two VCK MLAs. It is learn that the MLA is on the way to Chennai and that VCK insists on having the signature of both its MLAs before announcing its final decision.
Vijay had also reached out to the AMMK and IUML for support, but the two parties had refused.
Can Thiruma Be Chief Minister?
Well, anything is possible in coalition politics. Any leader can become chief minister if he is a member of the said assembly and can muster a simple majority in his favour – either through letters of support to the governor or on the floor of the assembly.
While Vijay was busy negotiating a coalition with smaller parties like the CPI, CPM, VCK and others, the Dravidian giants DMK and AIADMK weren’t sitting idle.
Finding themselves swept away by a Vijay tsunami, the parties that held a duopoly in Tamil Nadu politics for over six decades that begun talks among themselves. Nothing much came out of such talks since even they fell short of majority. Together, the two parties have 106 seats (DMK 59 and AIADMK 47). The halfway is 118.