As actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) scrambled for the final numbers needed to form a government in Tamil Nadu, its outreach to potential allies Thursday carried a distinctly new political style: WhatsApp messages from the state’s newest major party to some of its oldest ideological formations.
The response from sections of CPI, CPM and VCK ranged from cautious curiosity to visible discomfort, with several senior leaders privately admitting they had never before received a government-formation invitation through a messaging app from a party seeking power in Fort St George.
The unusual outreach unfolded even as Vijay met Governor Rajendra Arlekar for a second consecutive day, this time expressing his wish to be sworn in in two days, TVK sources said.
In a parallel move, the AIADMK shifted almost all of its 47 MLAs to a luxury resort in Puducherry as the party sought to shore up numbers for a joint fallback option with Dravidian arch-rival DMK. AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is planning to have lunch with the MLAs at the resort on Friday, sources said.
The DMK, meanwhile, authorised party president M K Stalin to take “urgent decisions” to ensure a “stable” government. It is learnt that Stalin has directed his party’s MLAs to remain in Chennai until May 10.
In a sharply worded resolution, the DMK accused the Congress of abandoning their Secular Progressive Alliance immediately after benefiting from its electoral strength, calling the move a return to the party’s “old political character”.
The day’s political spotlight, however, revolved around Vijay’s meeting with the Governor, as the TVK chief once again attempted to convince Raj Bhavan that he should be invited to form the government as leader of the single largest party in the Assembly. But, according to sources, the Governor maintained that Vijay must first demonstrate majority support for his party.
It is learnt that Arlekar asked Vijay to submit documentary proof showing support from at least 118 legislators — the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly. TVK currently has 108 MLAs. With Congress’s five-member support, the number rises to 113. But Vijay is expected to vacate one of the two constituencies he won, effectively reducing his side’s working strength and leaving the party still short of the required number.
The Governor’s insistence has disrupted TVK’s expectation that Vijay could be sworn in first and prove his majority later on the Assembly floor. Following Thursday’s meeting, senior TVK leaders and legal advisers held consultations at Vijay’s residence in Neelankarai. Some leaders suggested exploring legal options before the Madras High Court or Supreme Court while others even floated the possibility of a fresh election if government formation remained deadlocked.
The more immediate struggle, however, remained political, not legal. Over the past 24 hours, TVK intensified its outreach to parties within the DMK alliance, particularly the CPI, CPM, VCK and IUML — all with two MLAs each.
Leaders in the Left parties and VCK told The Indian Express that TVK’s communication largely came through WhatsApp messages rather than formal political channels. “A party that is trying to form the government, and which is short of numbers, has not visited us or even come to our office. They merely sent invitations through WhatsApp and claimed that we were invited. How are we supposed to interpret this approach?” a Left leader said.
Another senior Left leader described the outreach as a clash between political cultures before quipping that “perhaps, this is Gen-Z coalition politics”.
Behind the unease lies a deeper anxiety within sections of the Opposition INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu. “What happened was that TVK broke the INDI alliance with a single phone call when Congress walked away from the DMK alliance. Should they be allowed to break the Left alliance too?” the Left leader said.
The Left parties, however, stopped short of rejecting Vijay. Leaders in the CPI, CPM and VCK stressed that the single largest party should be given the first opportunity to form the government. CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said constitutional conventions and Supreme Court rulings supported allowing TVK to prove its majority on the Assembly floor after the swearing-in.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan confirmed that his party had received TVK’s request and said its high-level committee would take a decision after internal consultations.
The DMK’s resolution came amid activity within the AIADMK, which suggested that contingency planning was underway for a post-poll understanding between the Dravidian arch rivals if TVK ultimately fails to prove majority support.
Sources confirmed that informal discussions were underway about a fallback arrangement in which the AIADMK could stake claim with outside support from the DMK and participation from smaller parties. The AIADMK legislators being moved to a resort only intensified speculation around those discussions, though neither party has officially acknowledged any such plan.
DMK leaders publicly maintained that they were not attempting to block Vijay. “Let TVK form the government,” a leader quoted Stalin as saying in internal discussions. But the leader also said: “We can wait for six months. But what if TVK fails to prove the majority?”
