HYDERABAD, May 9 — Movie actor-turned-politician Vijay’s party, the winner of April’s assembly election, is asking India’s top court to direct the state governor to invite it form the next government.
Vijay emerged as the strongest contender for chief minister’s post after his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, followed by 59 seats for former chief minister M.K. Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and 47 for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a regional party allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Vijay met Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday evening to stake a claim to form the government.
The TVK has fallen short of the required 118-seat majority, but it has received support from the Indian National Congress, led by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, and leftist parties to make up for the numerical shortfall.
A TVK member has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking directions for the Tamil Nadu governor to invite the single largest party to form the government.
Stalin, in a post on his X social media page on Friday, also raised concerns about the delay in government formation and urged the governor to take “immediate action” as per the constitution.
An Indian state governor’s position is largely ceremonial, but the role can become crucial in constitutional disputes or when elections produce a hung assembly.
Meanwhile, TVK assembly members are staying at a luxury resort in Mamallapuram, about 60 kilometres from the state capital, Chennai, while political manoeuvres for a new government continue.
Similarly, many AIADMK legislators have been moved to a resort in Puducherry.
This practice of isolating lawmakers is infamously known in India as “resort politics,” in which political parties try to prevent their rivals from poaching their members during cutthroat legislative power struggles.
Tamil Nadu went to the polls last month along with the states of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, and the federally-administered territory of Puducherry.
Counting of votes took place on May 4.
