TN govt formation: Congress protests over Governor not inviting Vijay

Congress staged protests in Tamil Nadu against the Governor for not inviting TVK's Vijay to form a government. The party has offered support to TVK, which is still six MLAs short of the majority mark needed to form the government.

Tamil Nadu Congress on Friday staged a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government and Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar for not inviting TVK Chief Vijay to form the next government despite his party emerging as the single-largest formation in the Assembly elections. A protest was also held near Jhansi Rani Park in Madurai by the Congress party

Congress has also extended its support to TVK. Congress has offered conditional support to the TVK's Vijay to form a government in Tamil Nadu and severed its ties with the DMK.

The Numbers Game in a Fractured Mandate

Vijay's TVK has been working to garner support from other parties to form a government in Tamil Nadu since the verdict delivered a fractured mandate. With the support of five Congress MLAs, the alliance stands at 112, still six short of the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member assembly.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) are separately holding an executive meeting to discuss whether they will withdraw their support to Vijay. Both parties have two MLAs each. Their support will take the TVK alliance tally to 117, just one short of the majority.

AIADMK Leaders Meet

In other development , AIADMK leaders arrived at the residence of General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in Chennai.

Supporters Rally for Vijay

TVK supporters today staged a protest outside the Lok Bhavan in Chennai. A TVK supporter told ANI outside TVK Chief Vijay's residence, "... Vijay will take charge. DMK has been totally rejected. The public gave its vote to Vijay. DMK has no ground. The governor must take some appropriate action."

A fan said, "... I'm a big fan of Vijay, and I'm eagerly waiting to see him as Chief Minister."

TVK Ends Dravidian Duopoly

TVK stunned the 'Dravidian' parties in the State, bringing to an end the DMK-AIADMK three- decade-old 'duopoly'.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)