Tamil Nadu: Vijay Committed THIS Mistake While Staking Claim To Form Government, Costly Blunder For TVK

Chennai: The biggest question currently dominating the political landscape in Tamil Nadu is: which alliance will form the next government? Actor Vijay's party, the TVK, secured the highest number of seats but fell short of reaching the magic figure required for a majority. Consequently, Governor Rajendra Arlekar has repeatedly sent Vijay back, asking him to produce the necessary numbers. Meanwhile, it has come to light that on May 6, Vijay submitted a letter to the Governor—a document containing a critical error. This very mistake is now proving to be a significant hurdle for him.

What was TVK chief Vijay advised?

TVK chief Vijay had reportedly been advised to avoid this specific error, yet he failed to heed that counsel. According to reports, the letter Vijay submitted to the Governor staking his claim to form the government contained a flaw. Instead of presenting his claim as the single largest party, he submitted a list bearing the signatures of his party's MLAs. Furthermore, the list also included the signatures of Congress MLAs. However, even when combining the legislators from both parties, the total count failed to reach the requisite figure of 118.

By including the names of Congress MLAs, the TVK effectively forfeited its claim to form the government as the single largest party; instead, it presented its bid as a coalition government. This provided the Governor with the grounds to demand a list containing the signatures of 118 MLAs. Notably, just as Vijay was preparing to submit the initial letter, a senior leader within his own party had warned him against doing so.

What Was Advice from a Senior Leader?

K.A. Sengottaiyan—a nine-time MLA who had switched allegiance from the AIMDMK to the TVK—had advised the party to submit a list containing *only* the names of the 108 TVK MLAs, explicitly excluding the names of Congress legislators. However, the party proceeded to compile a list that included names from both the TVK and the Congress. Even when combined, the total number of legislators from these two parties fell short of the majority mark. Nevertheless, parties such as the VCK and various Left-wing factions have announced that they will make a final decision today regarding whether or not to extend their support to Vijay. If they agree to extend their support, Vijay will secure the necessary numbers; however, sources also suggest that the DMK might offer outside support to the AIADMK in order to keep the TVK out of power. It will now be interesting to see who forms the next government in Tamil Nadu.