Vijay, the Governor and future of INDIA alliance | South Central
In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Pooja Prasanna discuss the political developments in Tamil Nadu and the national implications of the fallout between DMK and Congress. They are joined by TNM’s Tamil Nadu bureau chief, Shabbir Ahmed, journalist and political analyst Rasheed Kidwai, and K Venkataramanan, a senior journalist who was previously with The Hindu.
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Dhanya first asks Rasheed Kidwai his thoughts on the Tamil Nadu Assembly election results.
“Tamil Nadu stands out. It says that the voters went for an unconventional player. What happens next will give the real picture. The Governor was also very welcoming of Vijay; there was a lot of warmth, also. Governors must allow the formation of the government, not obstruct it, but it looks like he is allowing vote chori in another form,” he says.
K Venkataramanan says it was quite a surprise. “I still think it was a combination of a desire for change and a personality-based mobilisation. It was difficult to believe that someone could outdo two major fronts in this way,” he says.
Pooja says that in Tamil Nadu, even those who were initially unsure seem to now be speaking in favour of Vijay. “Most of them seem to blame the Governor as an obstructor. The Governor looks like he is exceeding his mandate, and the euphoria about Vijay’s victory is now slowly turning into anger against the Governor,” she points out.
Shabbir says that for the TVK, they only need an invitation from the Governor. “They do not want to start on the wrong footing with the Governor. So they hope the CPI, CPM and VCK will extend support. Their entire focus is on mustering up a majority. Also, Vijay will be in the office for the first time, so he will be reluctant to criticise the Governor. But now, the privileges extended to Vijay, in terms of cars, convoy, and the like, have been withdrawn. There seems to be a plot twist, something at play that is keeping him from becoming CM,” he explains.
Dhanya asks if the Governor’s action of not calling Vijay to take the oath and proving majority in a floor test is legitimate.
“He is right in seeking numbers. It is constitutionally correct, and the Governor can peruse the letters and see if the numbers add to a majority. But the Governor also has the option of calling someone who has the potential to form a majority wth others. The Sarkaria Commission has recommended that the Governor must invite the single largest party, which here is the TVK. It appears that the Governor is abandoning the option of inviting the single largest party, and going to other options only if TVK cannot make up the numbers,” says KV.
Pooja says that this had earlier happened in 2018 in Karnataka, when MLAs had to defect to break alliances and show a majority. “That is not the case in Tamil Nadu. Here, TVK is not trying to break any alliance; it is, in fact, asking the smaller parties for support,” she says.
Rasheed Kidwai says that when people are educated and aware, Governors must bear in mind their mandate. “The Governor must get a government in place, but here I suspect that the other parties, like Congress, would want a share of power, as is the case with the BJP. This is anti-democratic,” he adds.
Dhanya asks if we should read the Governor’s delay as a reflection of a malicious intent to see if any other player can form the government.
KV says that the SC rulings on the Governor’s role are not clear. “In 2005, the Bihar example is slightly better in this case. The Assembly was suspended and dissolved to prevent the emergence of a coalition government. The SC struck this down, saying a Governor’s duty is to form a government, not to make it difficult. In Tamil Nadu, initially, the Governor’s stand looked correct, in asking for TVK to come with more letters of support. But now, it looks like there is an attempt to form an entirely different coalition,” he explains.
The panel further explores the potential political landscape in Tamil Nadu in the coming days, including the conflict between the DMK and the Congress, and other related issues.
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