Vijay's oath-taking delayed as TVK struggles to show governor numbers

CHENNAI: The mood in the TVK camp changed from jubilation on Wednesday morning to anxiety in the evening, when C Joseph Vijay’s party was staring at a gap of five seats even after Congress offered support.

TVK sources said the governor insisted on letters of support from an adequate number of MLAs before deciding on the swearing-in date. The swearing-in ceremony, which was planned for Thursday, was put on hold.



In the forenoon, Congress leaders called on Vijay at the TVK headquarters in Panaiyur with the letters of support of its MLAs. Vijay soon drove to Lok Bhavan and expressed his intent to governor R V Arlekar to form the govt.

When there was no response from Lok Bhavan till late evening, TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna met Arlekar again in the evening.

At the end of the day, TVK, which has been talking to parties in both the rival alliances, was grappling for numbers. While IUML (2 MLAs) said it would not support TVK, other DMK allies VCK, CPI, CPM (2 MLAs each), and DMDK (1) are yet to commit.

AIADMK, which had opened channels of communication with TVK in the past two days, also ruled out support. “Under no circumstance has AIADMK offered support to TVK,” AIADMK deputy general secretary K P Munusamy told reporters after party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami chaired a meeting of the 47 new MLAs.

Late evening, AIADMK moved its MLAs to a resort in Puducherry. Unconfirmed reports suggested DMK and AIADMK were in conversation about the evolving situation. Congress, meanwhile, came in for flak from DMK for “betraying voters and abandoning a long-standing alliance.”
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