Chennai, 8 May

In a major boost to its efforts to form government in Tamil Nadu, Vijay-led TVK received the support of the two Left parties on Friday, bringing it closer to the magic number of 118 legislators required for a simple majority.

The CPI and CPI (M), each having two seats, extended their support to the actor-politician-led party after day-long deliberations. Armed with their support, the TVK chief is slated to meet Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar later in the day to reiterate his claim to form government.

Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, with 108 seats but 10 short of a majority, had earlier reached out to CPI, CPI (M) and the VCK - all DMK allies, seeking their support to form government after winning its maiden Assembly election in Tamil Nadu which was held on 23 April. All three have two MLAs each in the 234-member House.

While the CPI initially informed the Tamil Nadu Governor, of their decision to support TVK, CPI (M) followed suit shortly, bringing Vijay closer to the simple majority mark. Both parties addressed letters to the governor informing of their support to the TVK.

In the April polls, TVK won 108 seats and emerged as the single largest party. Party founder Vijay will have to resign from one of the two constituencies he has won, as per EC norms. Congress party has extended the support of its five MLAs to Vijay. As per the calculations, the strength of TVK and its supporting MLAs now stands at 116, including the requirement of Vijay resigning from one of the two seats he contested from - Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli East.

That being the case, Vijay now requires two more MLAs' support to usher in his maiden government and VCK is all set to announce its decision on Saturday, amid indications that it might follow the Left parties. Meanwhile, Vijay will meet Governor Arlekar on Friday evening on government formation, according to an official source.

This would be his third meeting with the governor in as many days over staking the claim to form the government.

A source in the TVK said that during the meeting with the governor, Vijay is likely to reiterate his claim to form government.

Viduthalai Chiduthaigal Katchi (VCK) said it will hold an online meeting later on Friday to discuss the matter, although it was expected that the discussion would be held in the morning. VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan said the party's high-level committee will meet via video conferencing on Friday evening to discuss the prevailing "political crisis" in Tamil Nadu and decide on the party's future course of action regarding government formation.

CPI, CPI (M) and VCK are part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA).

Responding to queries about his recent meeting with DMK president and outgoing Chief Minister M K Stalin, the VCK leader maintained that the party remains part of the SPA. He described the meeting with Stalin as a courtesy call between alliance partners. Pressed further on whether the VCK would support an alternative front if it were given a share in power — a long-standing demand of the party—Thirumavalavan reiterated that he would not engage in speculation.

Meanwhile, Sinthanai Selvan, VCK General Secretary said a question arises if Vijay has faltered in handling the "extraordinary situation" after Assembly election results emerged and also whether the second-rung leaders were misleading him.

The VCK leader said the TVK must have worked in a very cautious manner as it did not get a majority on its own and wondered whether Vijay should not have called on leaders of political parties from whom he expected support. "Should not have Vijay freely discussed (with leaders of parties from whom he expects support) about the necessity to prevent the BJP from entering Tamil Nadu through the Governor and also that he was not in the clutches of second-rung leaders."

Underlining that a letter seeking support was sent on Whatsapp to them and a reply has been solicited, Selvan wondered the way in which Vijay's such an approach to secure support should be understood.

The VCK leader, referring to Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, alleged that Congress party followed dynasty politics and the TVK has joined hands with such a party. "Can there be a higher contradiction than opposing dynasty politics after joining hands with the Congress party," he asked.

Meanwhile, the Congress staged a protest against the Governor over not inviting TVK chief Vijay to form the government. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Girish Chodankar, and party workers participated in the agitation held here.