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Chennai: Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is not yet convinced that actor-turned-politician Vijay Thalapathy's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has the numbers to form the government in the state, sources said. In such a scenario, it is unlikely that Vijay would take oath as the Chief Minister tomorrow, the sources added. 

This comes after Vijay met Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan today and formally staked claim to form the government in the state since his party emerged as the single-largest party following the Assembly elections. 

The Number Game

TVK won 108 seats out of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, just 10 short of the majority mark of 118 seats. However, since Vijay won from two seats (Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East), the actual number of seats in TVK's hand totals to 107 as of now. 

In a crucial boost to Vijay’s numbers, the Congress has formally extended support to TVK, ending its alliance with DMK.

Tamil Nadu Congress chief K Selvaperunthagai and AICC in-charge Girish Chodankar met Vijay at the party headquarters and handed over a letter of support. Congress won five seats in the elections, hence, with its support TVK's strength has jumped to 112 MLAs.

However, Vijay still needs six more MLAs to prove majority.

Congress' Conditional Support

The support of Congress is also conditional. The party has stated that it will back TVK to form the government if it does not ally with any “communal forces”.

In a statement the Congress said, "The people of Tamil Nadu, especially the youth, have delivered a very clear, strong and overwhelming verdict for a secular, progressive and welfarist government that believes in constitutional principles. They have chosen the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) led by Mr. Vijay to form the next government.

The Indian National Congress stands for, and is the founding political party for, secular, progressive and welfarist politics in India. It is our constitutional duty to respect, uphold and help fulfil this mandate of the people of Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) has decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government."

“Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India,” the party added.

30 AIADMK MLAs To Defect?

There are reports that 30 out of the 47 newly-elected AIADMK MLAs are likely to defect to support TVK. Several AIADMK MLAs had gathered at Rajya Sabha MP CV Shanmugam’s office in Chennai earlier during the day, signalling support for initiating talks with TVK.

During the meeting, AIADMK leaders discussed whether the party should ally with TVK. Sources indicated resistance from AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is reportedly not in favour of an immediate alliance.

Following this resistance, reports of defection of 30 AIADMK MLAs have swirled in Tamil Nadu.

16th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Dissolved

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar announced that the 16th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has been dissolved with effect from May 5.

The 16th Assembly was formed after Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and allies won the 2021 State Assembly elections.