CHENNAI: Even as political observers and legal experts are criticising Governor Rajendra Arlekar for insisting that TVK president C Joseph Vijay should prove that he has the support of 118 MLA-elects in the House to form the next government, sources told DT Next that the insistence came due to an error on the part of the TVK leadership.
As per convention, the Governor will invite the single largest party to form the government. In the case of the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly election, the TVK has 108 winning candidates (including Vijay from two seats), considerably more than the DMK with 59 and the AIADMK (47).
Sources said veteran politician KA Sengottaiyan, who won as a legislator for the 10th time this election, had advised the party to present only the names of the 108 MLA-elects from the TVK when staking claim to form the next government.
However, based on the opinion given by other leaders of the party – including those who are contesting an election for the first-ever time – the letter handed over to the Governor on May 6 had 112 names, including the five MLA-elects of the Congress.
Noting that the claim was for a coalition government, and not from the single largest party, Governor Arlekar said he would require proof of support from 118 winning candidates to prove that the coalition had simple majority, sources added.