Congress on Wednesday agreed to back actor-turned-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to form a government in Tamil Nadu, but put forth a condition.
The party said that it is ready to support Vijay, but the backing would be “conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India”.
This comes after Vijay's party reached out to Congress for support after it fell short of the majority mark in Tamil Nadu with just 108 seats to its name, while 118 is needed to form a government. Out of these 108 seats, Vijay won in two and would have to leave one. Congress won five seats in the state.
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In a letter, Congress said that Vijay formally requested the grand old party to extend support for forming government in the state. “The people of Tamil Nadu, especially the youth, have delivered a very clear, strong and overwhelming verdict for a secular, progressive and welfarist government that believes in constitutional principles. They have chosen the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) led by Mr. Vijay to form the next government,” Congress said in the letter.
It added that it was Congress' “constitutional duty” to respect people's mandate in the state. “The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) has decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}It added that it was Congress' “constitutional duty” to respect people's mandate in the state. “The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) has decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government,” it said.
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‘Mutual respect, shared responsibility’
Congress said that alliance with TVK will strive to “bring back Perunthalaivar Kamaraj's glory days of Tamil Nadu, with a strong commitment to Thanthai Periyar's social justice ideals and Dr. BR Ambedkar's constitutional ideals in the years and decades to come.”
“This alliance - founded on mutual respect, appropriate share, and shared responsibility between the two parties - is not only for the formation of this government, but also for future elections to the local body organisations, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” it added.
Congress support not enough to form government
Even though Congress has formally agreed to back Vijay's TVK in the state, the numbers it offers are not enough to form the government in the state.
With Congress' five MLAs, TVK can only touch 112 seats since Vijay would have to give up one of his seats, Tiruchirappalli East and Perambur, which will go to bypoll later.
Also, the party would elect one Assembly Speaker, who once elected, won't vote during a confidence motion. This further reduces TVK's effective strength to 106.