30 Of 47 AIADMK MLAs Want To Back Vijay, EPS Not In Favour: Sources

The ground-breaking victory of actor-politician Vijay in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls -- which falls just short of majority -- has started a mad scramble for numbers. It has already split the vintage Congress-DMK alliance and now, with a sizable chunk of the AIADMK MLAs demanding that the party extend support to Vijay, another north-south alliance could be on the rocks too.

Vijay has made it clear that he wants his alliance to be secular. So while the AIADMK is an option for alliance partner, the party gets disqualified because of its alliance with the BJP. 

Sources today said around 30 of AIADMK's 47 MLAs are in favour of joining hands with Vijay, but party chief E Palaniswami is reluctant. Senior AIADMK official KP Munusamy told reporters, "Whatever the situation is, AIADMK will not support TVK".

Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam or TVK currently has 108 seats. But its effective strength is 106 since Vijay, who holds two seats, will have to quit one and the seat of the Speaker also cannot be counted in case a trust vote is needed. The Speaker can only vote in case of a tie.

The Congress, which has formally extended support to TVK, has five MLAs. The Left, IUML and the VCK, which are yet to formally come on board, have six MLAs altogether. That brings the total to 117 -- the exact majority mark. 

Earlier today, sources told NDTV that Vijay may not take oath tomorrow since the Governor is not convinced that his party has the numbers. The matter became known after Vijay met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to stake claim as the single largest party.

Of the 234 seats in the Tamil Nadu assembly, the DMK bagged 59 seats, AIADMK 47, PMK 4, IUML 2, CPI 2, CPI(M) 2, and the BJP, DMDK and AMMK one seat each.

The Congress, which has formally extended support to Vijay after a meeting late last evening, came on board with a condition -- that the alliance will be completely secular. The party is expected to get two cabinet berths -- more than it ever got during its alliance with the DMK. 

As its alliance with the DMK broke down, the southern party had dubbed the Congress "backstabbers" -- insisting the party won six seats in the state only because of its support.

The AIADMK-BJP has been an on-again-off again relationship. The ties had broken once earlier as the Dravidian party called the BJP a liability in south politics. But ahead of this year's election, the AIADMK had again renewed ties with the BJP.