"Governor is bound to seek clarity on numbers, Congress cannot help TVK cross 118-seat mark," says AIADMK.

🔴#BREAKING | "Governor is bound to seek clarity on numbers, Congress cannot help TVK cross 118-seat mark" : AIADMK
NDTV's @DharanVija47684 joins @reetksahni with more details pic.twitter.com/FeNaVztd8Q

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The rise of Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam or TVK may spark what has been considered impossible over the last 50 years - an alliance between Dravidian arch-rivals DMK and AIADMK - all to keep the actor-politician out of power. Sources have told NDTV that the Udhayanidhi Stalin faction of the DMK fear that Vijay could bring about a re-run of the years under AIADMK's iconic Chief Minister MG Ramachandran or MGR, who in his lifetime, had never allowed the DMK to capture power. 

The other half of this arrangement, the AIADMK, is ready to consider it in view of its survival, especially in view of its four successive poll defeats since the death of J Jayalalithaa. And the BJP, which comprises the backroom, is interested in keeping the Congress out of power after its alliance with the TVK, sources said.

Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is not convinced that Vijay's party, TVK, has numbers to form the government, according to the sources. But can the governor do that despite TVK emerging as the single-largest party? TVK secured 108 seats, just short of the majority-mark of 118.

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has threatened that all of its 108 MLAs will resign if either of the two Dravidian parties -- MK Stalin's DMK or E Palaniswami's AIADMK -- try to stake claim to form government in Tamil Nadu, according to sources. 

Actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the architect behind the latest election blockbuster in Tamil Nadu, on Thursday reached out to one more MLA amid growing uncertainty over government formation. The TVK is learnt to have sought the support of Kamaraj S, the lone winning candidate of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), led by TTV Dhinakaran.

The TVK's move comes amid a stalemate with Governor RV Arlekar, who remains unconvinced that the party can run an administration despite falling short of the required majority. The TVK is confident that it would have the required majority by today, party insiders say.

In a strongly worded statement, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Governor of attempting to deny Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam its "rightful democratic opportunity" to form the government through what he described as "backroom political manoeuvring".

The Congress leader alleged that the Governor was acting at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government and not in accordance with democratic conventions or constitutional morality.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party and its puppet Governor are indulging in unconstitutional actions to prevent Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government despite the people clearly rejecting the traditional political order in the State," Selvaperunthagai said in the statement.

Escalating the political confrontation over government formation in Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee on Thursday announced statewide protests on May 8 against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government and Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar for not inviting Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C Joseph Vijay to form the next government despite his party emerging as the single-largest formation in the Assembly elections.