Trouble Mounts For Vijay As Rumours Of DMK's Alliance With Long-Term Enemy AIADMK Swirls In Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Will Vijay Thalapathy be able to form a government in Tamil Nadu? Certainty over the actor-turned-politician becoming the Chief Minister has wavered since rumours of an alliance betwwen Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its long-standing enemy All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) started swirling in the state after Vijay failed to prove a majority before the Governor to form government on Wednesday.

This comes after Vijay met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath 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. 

However, Arlekar is not yet convinced that Vijay Thalapathy's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has the numbers to form the government in the state, sources said.

How DMK-AIADMK Can Change Vijay's Game?

TVK, in alliance with Congress, is still short of six MLAs to form the government.

In such a scenario, if DMK and AIADMK forms an alliance, they could challenge TVK's prospect to form the government. While DMK won 59 seats, AIADMK won 47 seats in the recently-concluded elections. If the two parties tie-up, they will together have 106 MLAs.

Since the majority mark is 118 seat, DMK and AIADMK would need to ally with smaller parties to gain 12 more MLAs. If they achieve this number, they could easily form a government in Tamil Nadu, crushing Vijay's plan for the same.

How Many MLAs Are With Vijay?

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.

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.

30 AIADMK MLAs To Defect To TVK?

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 on Wednesday, 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.

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