A politically inexperienced Vijay delivered an electoral blockbuster after his TVK emerged as the single largest party in its debut Tamil Nadu elections. However, that inexperience seems to have become a key hurdle as Vijay staked a claim to form the government during his meeting with the Governor. Political experts cited a possible minor error by the TVK that might have become Vijay’s biggest hurdle.
As per convention, the single largest party stakes its claim and is then invited to form the government by the governor. The party then has to prove its majority on the floor of the House. The Tamil Nadu elections threw a hung assembly, with Vijay’s TVK, a two-year-old party, securing 108 seats. Effectively, the TVK’s strength is 107, as Vijay will have to vacate one of the two seats he won.
Thus, it leaves the TVK 11 seats short of the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member House. Support came in the form of Congress, which won just five seats. This took the overall TVK+ tally to 112 seats (107 + 5).
THE ERROR BY VIJAY’S TVK
Now, experts said the error by Vijay was that the letter he submitted to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on May 6 to stake claim included signatures of the TVK MLAs as well as those of the Congress.
Ideally, Vijay should have first provided a list carrying signatures of only the elected 108 TVK MLAs. This would have asserted his status as the leader of the TVK, which emerged as the single largest party.
Now, by including the names of the Congress MLAs, Vijay implied that a coalition government was staking a claim to form the government. He effectively staked a claim for a coalition administration. This might have prompted the Governor to send him back and ask him to return with 118 signatures – the majority required to form the government.
A second meeting with the Governor also did not bear any fruit. This time, the Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan, in a press release, stated that Vijay failed to establish the essential majority required to form the government.
“If Vijay had staked his claim as the single largest party, that claim would have been approved,” a political commentator, Amit Kumar Sindhi, tweeted.
Another journalist posted, “If only Vijay had advisors with better political acumen, he would have been sworn in today.”
The fact is that Vijay is just 51 and has just won his first major polls. His TVK does not have any past electoral experience in contesting even local body polls. Even the average age of the TVK MLAs is 44 years. The seniormost leader who has political experience in Vijay’s team is KA Sengottaiyan. Sengottaiyan, a nine-time MLA, ditched the AIADMK in 2025 to join the TVK.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY ON VIJAY’S MOVE
The question is now whether the Governor was right in refusing to invite Vijay to form the government. Several parties have accused the Governor of acting under pressure from the BJP-led Centre.
We spoke to a few constitutional experts and advocates, who provided different interpretations.
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishen Kaul said the Constitution does not have a rigid formula and Article 163 allowed the governor discretion in deciding whom to invite to form the government.
He cited the landmark SR Bommai vs Union of India judgment, which laid down safeguards on the arbitrary dismissal of state governments. Kaul underlined that the judgment, however, left the issue of a fractured mandate unresolved.
The senior advocate, in his interaction with India Today, pointed towards the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission (1988) and the Punchhi Commission (2010).
The Sarkaria Commission recommended a sequence. It suggested a preference for a pre-poll alliance, followed by the single largest party, and then a post-poll coalition in staking a claim to form a government.
On the other hand, the Punchhi Commission suggested that the governor may invite “the party” or “a combination of parties” that commands the “widest support”. This, Kaul said, does not restrict the claim only to pre-poll alliances.
However, the suggestions by these commissions have not received judicial endorsement.
On the other hand, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi asserted that the governor was “constitutionally bound” to invite the single largest party first.
This was seconded by Congress MP and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi as well. Singhvi stressed that the Tamil Nadu Governor had “no alternative” when no rival alliance has formally staked a claim.
There is strong buzz that archrivals DMK and the AIADMK may join hands. For now, all eyes are on Governor Rajendra Arlekar to solve the Tamil Nadu political muddle.
– Ends
