Govt formation: Vijay turns up at Lok Bhavan for second time within 24 hrs to meet Guv

TVK chief Vijay met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Lok Bhavan after staking claim to form government with Congress support. Despite winning 108 seats, TVK remains short of majority, and the Governor has not yet announced a decision

Chennai: TVK chief Vijay was in the Lok Bhavan on Thursday to meet Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in connection with his request to be invited to form the government with the support the Congress party.

However, there was no immediate word from officials or the TVK on whether Vijay met Arlekar and if the TVK founder had been invited to form the government or not.

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In his second visit to the Lok Bhavan within 24 hours, the TVK chief was inside the Governor’s House for about 40 minutes before he was seen leaving the premises.

The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly and emerged as the single largest party.

Though the Congress party, which has five MLAs, has extended support to TVK, the actor-politician-led party was still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark in the 200-plus member House.

On Wednesday, Vijay submitted the letter of support from the Congress party to the governor and staked claim. However, Arlekar is yet to take a decision on the matter, according to official sources.

To a question on swearing-in and government formation, TVK leader VS Babu told reporters: “Let us see, this will happen soon and let us see what the next is”.

When asked about the alleged pressure from the Centre, he said he would not comment on matters over which he had no idea. “I will not talk about things that I do not know.”