Actor Vijay's New Party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam Emerges as Largest in Tamil Nadu Assembly

Tamil Nadu. Actor Vijay's newly formed party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has emerged as the largest party in the 234-member assembly. This is not the first time the people of Tamil Nadu have given a mandate where the largest party could not secure a majority on its own. In fact, exactly 20 years ago, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had secured fewer seats than TVK. At that time, DMK had won only 96 seats, whereas this time TVK has secured significantly more seats than that. However, at that time, DMK had the support of the 34-member Congress, as well as the two Communist parties (CPM with 9 members and CPI with 6 members) and the 18-member PMK. On the other hand, TVK has won 108 seats. But this number will later become 107, as TVK chief Joseph Vijay has been elected from two seats and he will have to vacate one. TVK has received the support of the five-member Congress. Thus, its total number reaches 112.

• Why is TVK facing questions?

Looking at the political statistics, TVK seems to have the upper hand. However, the current political atmosphere appears very unstable. The reason for this is that in 2006, M. Karunanidhi, who was the Chief Minister, had long political experience, whereas Vijay is relatively new to politics. It is also noteworthy that at that time, the opposition leader was J. Jayalalithaa of AIADMK. Political analyst Dr. Sumant C. Raman told BBC News Hindi, 'This will not be a stable government. I consider this just a semi-final. It is difficult to say how long it will last. Perhaps two years, after which a new government may come.' The controversy arose when Governor R.N. Ravi sought written support from smaller parties, contrary to the Supreme Court's recognition that the vote of confidence should be held in the assembly. TVK faces two major obstacles. First, smaller parties – such as VCK (2 MLAs), CPM (2 MLAs), CPI (2 MLAs), AMMK (1 MLA), and PMK (4 MLAs) – have not yet formally clarified their stance, and some of them still need to resolve ideological differences. PMK has been part of the AIADMK-led NDA alliance, while VCK and both Communist parties are part of the DMK-led alliance. Given Governor R.N. Ravi's attitude, it appears that problems may arise between the ruling party and the Raj Bhavan in the future, making the formal decision of these parties important.

• Discussion on the Governor's decision

In an unusual move, Governor Ravi sought written letters of support from those parties with whom Vijay had spoken after seeking support for TVK. His attitude is considered contrary to the verdict given by the Supreme Court's constitutional bench in the S.R. Bommai case. That verdict stated that the majority test of a government can only be held on the floor of the assembly, not in the Raj Bhavan. After this historic verdict, governors have generally invited the largest party to form the government and set a date for a vote of confidence in the assembly. According to the S.R. Bommai case, the earliest use of the convention of inviting the largest party to form the government occurred in 1996 and 1998 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee took the oath of Prime Minister. The weakening of AIADMK and TVK taking its place as a new alternative is considered the main reason for the defeat of the ruling DMK. Political commentator Ajali Senthilnath told BBC News Hindi, 'In the special circumstance where neither DMK nor AIADMK claimed to form the government, the Governor should have given the largest party an opportunity to prove its majority in the assembly.' Senthilnath is confident that the smaller parties will clarify their stance after consulting their internal mechanisms like the executive and state committees. He said, 'Even if the Communist parties do not join the government, they will support TVK in some way to prevent BJP from taking advantage of this situation. It is true that they had a meeting with DMK leader M.K. Stalin. The situation will become clear in the next two days.'

• Why did DMK lose?

Analyzing the reasons for DMK's defeat, Senthilnath points out an interesting fact. DMK has completed five years in power and won the next election only twice. The first time was in 1967 when C.N. Annadurai became Chief Minister, and the second time was in 1971 when Karunanidhi became Chief Minister. Apart from this, DMK won the 2021 assembly elections and performed excellently in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Senthilnath said, 'What happened in the last two years? Not much. Only because of the alliance with BJP, AIADMK became further weakened, which the people of Tamil Nadu do not like. In such a situation, there is a kind of rebalancing at the social level. Usually, AIADMK takes DMK's place. But this time, because AIADMK was weak, TVK emerged and came forward.' He added, 'We should not forget that DMK is as surprised by its defeat as TVK is by its victory. Vijay did the right thing in all aspects necessary to come to power.' In short, the people gave a mandate to a new party like TVK, but did not give it a strong enough majority to easily come to power. Now its test will be in how it balances governance and politics. A senior journalist, on condition of anonymity, said, 'Facing such a situation is not easy for any new party. It requires political skill. There is no doubt that Vijay and his team do not have that skill immediately, at least based on the current situation. Winning an election by building an extraordinary relationship with the youth and older generations through social media is one thing, but facing and playing the game of power is entirely another.' BBC Hindi