Tamil Nadu govt formation LIVE UPDATES: AIADMK-DMK alliance speculation
With Tamil Nadu election results throwing up a hung assembly, speculation was rife about AIADMK forming government in the state with outside support from an unexpected alliance, with its Dravidian rival DMK and other parties.
AIADMK, which won 47 seats in the 234-member assembly, was the third largest party. M.K. Stalin’s DMK won 57.
Actor-politician Vijay’s TVK stunned the Dravidian parties in the elections this time, in what was widely believed to be an end of the DMK-AIADMK three-decade duopoly in Tamil Nadu politics.
TVK has already stitched an alliance with the Congress, which won five seats, and had a pre-poll tie-up with the DMK. But the Congress-TVK alliance still needs five more legislators in its fold to touch the majority mark and form a government.
On Friday, parties were huddling to discuss their options. ANI reported that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) were separately holding executive meetings to discuss whether they will withdraw their support to Vijay. Both parties have two MLAs each. Their support takes the TVK alliance tally to 117, just one short of the majority.
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1.30 pm: BJP claims Congress will ‘end up with egg on its face’
BJP General Secretary B.L. Santhosh wrote on X that the Congress’s move to support TVK instead of its traditional ally, the DMK, won’t end well for the party.
“Only time will tell who will form the government in Tamil Nadu, but one thing is for sure… the Congress will end up with egg on its face,” Santhosh wrote.
There’s been widespread criticism of the Congress’s decision. Veteran party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar called it “dreadful” and a move that smacked of “low political opportunism”.
Aiyar told PTI that if the decision facilitates backdoor entry of a “communal BJP” into Tamil Nadu, then it would prove to be the worst own goal in the history of political football.
Aiyar said he cannot imagine the fathers of the Indian National Congress blessing such “politics of expediency”.
Congress’s decision to jump ship into an alliance with the TVK, which tool “us on in the 23 assembly segments that we lost” was “dreadful”, he said.
1.15 pm: Congress, TVK continue protests against TN Governor
Tamil Nadu Congress and TVK functionaries were protesting in Chennai Friday against Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar for not inviting Vijay, whose party won the most seats in the state assembly, to form the next government,
The party supporters protested outside Lok Bhavan in Chennai.
“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 supporter told ANI. Another fan said he was eagerly waiting to see Vijay as the CM.
It’s been four days since results were declared on 4 May.
On Thursday, the Tamil Nadu Governor invited Vijay to Lok Bhavan, but did not formally ask him to form a government. Reports said Arlekar asked Vijay about the “magic number” and to present details about legislators backing the TVK.
Vijay and other parties have argued that his majority should be proven on the floor of the state’s assembly after he is invited to form a government and becomes the chief minister.
1.00 pm: Other parties react
Congress MP Jothimani said of the speculation on X, “The enemy of the enemy is a friend. How can an enemy and enemy be friends? Historical mistake. Tamil Nadu will never accept this.”
VCK’s Thol Thirumavalavan told ANI, “It is just speculation. We’ll wait and see.”
12.45 pm: Mixed signals from DMK camp
DMK’s M.K. Stalin was holding a meeting with senior DMK leaders at party office Anna Arivalayam in Chennai amidst talks of an alliance with AIADMK.
But DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan denied the possibility of such a tie-up, saying: “I don’t think it is possible because we, DMK and AIADMK, are the major enemies in Tamil Nadu politics.”
Separately, DMK MP Kanimozhi stressed that the electorate’s decision should be respected.
“It is people’s mandate, and in democracy, what people decide is supreme. Unfortunately, it is not a very lear mandate, but whatever it is, we have to respect it,” she told PTI. On reports of backing the AIADMK, she said: “It’s speculation. We cannot respond to speculation. I belong to DMK; I cannot be answering for what the AIADMK says.”
Unconfirmed reports say that the DMK has asked AIADMK to break away from its ally, BJP, because the Left and others within Stalin’s party were uncomfortable of being part of a “communal” alliance.
12.00 pm: AIADMK’s hint. ‘My party will come back’
Much of the speculation about the DMK backing AIADMK was based on AIADMK MP M. Thambidurai’s remark Fridat that his party will come back to power in Tamil Nadu.
Thambidurai told reporters, “So many discussions are going on. I cannot say anything now. We hope good things will happen. My party, my leader will come back. There is a public sentiment that AIADMK has to come to power. That may happen in the due course of time with the grace of God.”
