Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Tuesday said that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by actor-turned-politician Vijay, has reached out to the party, seeking its support to form the next government in Tamil Nadu.
Vijay’s TVK emerged as the single party in Tamil Nadu after the assembly election results were announced on Monday. TVK, which made its electoral politics debut in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, won 108 seats.
The party, however, fell 10 seats short of the majority mark in the 234-member house. The Congress, an ally of the DMK, secured five seats in the election results announced on Monday. The Congress had decided to stick to its alliance with the DMK despite opposition from some local leaders, who wanted the party to join hands with the TVK.
What Congress said
Top Congress leaders held a meeting at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Tuesday evening. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Congress in-charge for Tamil Nadu state unit Girish Chodankar were among those present.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal said the Tamil Nadu unit of the party has been directed to take a final decision keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict.
"Today we had a meeting to discuss about the Tamil Nadu political situation. Basically, we discussed the post-election scenario in the meeting, which was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar.
Vijay sought Congress' support
"The President of TVK Thiru Vijay has requested the Congress for support to form a government in Tamil Nadu. INC is clear that the mandate in Tamil Nadu is for a secular government committed to protecting the Constitution in letter and spirit," he said.
Venugopal said the Congress is determined not to have the BJP and its proxies in the Tamil Nadu government in any manner.
He said Vijay has spoken about drawing inspiration from Kamaraj also.
The TVK is also expected to reach out to other small parties, including PMK, which has four seats, CPI, and CPI-M, which have two seats each, to reach the simple majority mark in the state assembly.
First non-DMK, non-AIADMK govt since 1967
If Vijay succeeds in forming the government, it will be for the first time since 1967 that Tamil Nadu will have a non-DMK, non-AIADMK administration.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
