New Delhi:
TVK chief and actor Vijay has sought the Congress’s support to form a new government in Tamil Nadu, Congress leader KC Venugopal said today, following the new party’s massive win in the assembly election that jolted the southern state’s politics by breaking the DMK and AIADMK’s traditional duopoly.
The Congress’s Tamil Nadu unit will meet tomorrow morning in Chennai and take a call on the matter, Venugopal said, adding the party does not want a BJP government in the state since the mandate is clearly for a “secular government”.
Separately, sources said the Congress is likely to support the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and the party’s central leadership has given full autonomy to the state unit to take an independent decision.
Others are also likely to be part of the new government, sources said, without identifying them. Vijay has to officially stake claim to form the government. Only after that he can take the oath.
Tamil Nadu Congress in-charge Girish Chodankar confirmed that Vijay wrote a letter to the Congress chief seeking support.
“We are considering it. Our performance was not very good; there was a wave in favour of Vijay, and he received votes from the youth and women. The mandate is in favour of a secular government,” Chodankar said.
The TVK is the single-largest party with 108 seats. With no party getting the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member assembly, the state has entered a phase of intense negotiations.