Why Is TVK’s Joseph Vijay Falling Short Of Numbers?

It may have looked like magic when the Congress rushed its support to the TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu but allies weren’t happy.  In fact, TVK president C Joseph Vijay met Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan in Chennai and staked a claim to form the next government only after receiving a letter of support from the Congress. Yet the letter of support of five Congress MLAs was not enough to convince the Governor that Vijay will be able to provide a stable government with support of113 MLAs– five short of the majority figure of 118. Vijay was hoping other secular parties — the CPI, CPI(M) and VCK – part of the DMK alliance who had two seats each would back him. That did not happen. TVK needed 11 seats to reach the majority. The Left parties and the Indian Union Muslim League ruled out their support. TVK had also sought VCK’s support, sources said, even as he destroyed its support base among Dalit Christians. Interestingly top CPI leadership rued the Congress decision to support to Vijay without “even bothering to consult us.” For the Congress somehow joining TVK government was correcting the mistake of not going with Vijay before the TN assembly polls. All that the Congress bothered was to see that AIADMK, allied with the NDA, didn’t join TVK government. Tremendous pressure was exerted on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge via his son Priyank Kharge, to back alliance with DMK. This even after Rahul Gandhi and his close aide Praveen Chakravarty were both rooting for a tie-up with Vijay’s TVK. “If only Congress had a pre-poll tie-up with TVK, Vijay would have easily won 140-148 seats…,” says a TN Congress leader. Interestingly, another superstar Rajnikanth, who was also contemplating to enter politics, chose to call on M K Stalin. Will Vijay’s era in TN be the beginning of the coalition era of Tamil politics?