Vijay to take oath as CM of Tamil Nadu on Saturday, how TVK managed majority mark?
Vijay's Oath Ceremony: TVK Chief Vijay will take the oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Saturday morning at 11 AM. Late Friday evening, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar extended an invitation to him to form the government. According to reports, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may also attend the CM's oath-taking ceremony.
It is worth noting that the party led by actor-turned-politician Vijay—the TVK—is forming the government in the state. In the assembly elections, the TVK emerged as the single largest party, though it fell short of the absolute majority mark (118 seats). Consequently, Vijay has now staked a claim to form the government in alliance with the Congress and three other parties.
Vijay visited the Lok Bhawan to meet with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and formally staked his claim to form the government.
This marks the third meeting between TVK Chief Vijay and Governor R.V. Arlekar within the span of just one week. During their previous two meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, the Governor had asked Vijay to demonstrate the support of at least 118 MLAs in order to form the government. It is understood that Vijay had requested additional time, to which the Governor agreed, granting an extension until May 10.
All eyes were fixed on the smaller parties
It is pertinent to mention that for the past four days, intense deliberations had been underway to help the TVK—which holds 108 seats—reach the 118-seat threshold required for a majority. Amidst this political maneuvering, all eyes were fixed on the smaller parties. Reports suggest that following a prolonged period of negotiations and persuasion, the CPI, CPM, and VCK finally extended their support to the Vijay-led government. As soon as this news broke, slogans of "TVK! TVK!" rang out outside Vijay's residence in Chennai on Friday evening.
TVK has 107 MLAs, while Congress has 5. Besides, CPI, CPM and VCK have two MLAs each taking the total to 118.