Congress leader KC Venugopal said on Tuesday that actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam had requested support from the party to form the government in Tamil Nadu.
The Congress leadership directed the party’s Tamil Nadu unit to decide on the request “keeping in view the sentiments of the state reflected in the electoral verdict”, Venugopal told reporters.
On Monday, the TVK, on its electoral debut, emerged as the single-largest party in the Tamil Nadu elections, winning 108 seats.
However, the Vijay-led party fell short of the majority mark of 118 seats in the 234-member Assembly. It requires the support of other parties to form the government.
The Congress, which fought the elections in an alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, won five seats. The MK Stalin-led DMK won 59.
The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which were also part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, won two seats each.
The National Democratic Alliance, mainly comprising the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the BJP, won 53 seats.
On Tuesday, Venugopal said that the Congress was clear that the voters in Tamil Nadu had voted for a secular government, “committed to protecting the constitution in letter and spirit”.
“The Congress is determined not to have the BJP and proxies run the government of Tamil Nadu in any manner,” said the party’s general secretary (organisation).
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai on Tuesday said that the Congress had won the five seats because of the DMK.
“When the BJP/RSS was trolling Rahul Gandhi as ‘Pappu’ it was our leader MK Stalin who declared him as the prime ministerial candidate,” Annadurai said on social media. “Just putting things in a perspective.”
On Wednesday, Annadurai said that the DMK does not endorse the Congress’ support for TVK.
“It was their unilateral decision,” he said, describing the Congress as “the backstabbers”.
The Congress and the DMK are also part of the Opposition INDIA bloc at the national level.
The TVK has also opened talks with the AIADMK, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
As the results for the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu had become clear, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said on social media that he had congratulated Vijay on TVK’s “spectacular result”.
“This mandate reflects the rising voice of youth which cannot, and will not, be ignored,” said Gandhi.
Vijay thanked Gandhi on Tuesday and said that “we shall remain committed to excellence in public service, and preserving the cultural ethos of our state, which requires collective cooperation”.
Also read:
‘Vijay opened people’s eyes’: In Chennai, jubilation outside one party office, heartbreak at another
How did Vijay break the Dravidian duopoly? And what lies ahead for Tamil Nadu?
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