Chennai, May 7 (UNI) When the nascent and not yet tested Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Founder and actor-politician Vijay threw in the bait that his party was ready for alliance and also for a share in power if it formed the next government in the run up to the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, none took it seriously and literally dismissed it as a statement by a political novice devoid of any experience
But the poll outcome negated all the exit poll predictions and Vijay had announced his entry in to the political scene with a bang, but failed to get a simple majority on its own to form a government, raising hopes of TN having its first ever coalition dispensation, a concept never witnessed till date in its history since Independence.
In this background, the actor-turned-neta reached out to DMK allies like Congress, VCK and the Left Parties seeking their support to muster the requisite numbers. In this scenario, his pre-poll power sharing bait proved to be his trump card and masterstroke as the Congress, within just two days after the poll results were announced, abruptly ended its 10-year-long honeymoon with the DMK, switched sides by aligning with the TVK and handed over letter pledging the support of its five newly-elected MLAs to form a secular government to keep communal forces at bay. It also expressed its commitment to Vijay to continue the ties in future polls--till 2029 Lok Sabha polls and the local body polls in the intervening period.
The Congress' offer of support of its five newly elected MLAs not only came as a booster to TVK but also triggered a post-poll realignment for the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu politics--a concept not seen even in 2006 (polls threw up hung assembly for the first time) when the DMK failed to secure a majority of its own, but managed to complete its full five year term with the outside support of Congress and other allies--with the National party taking the lead. Even at that time the post-poll alignment topic did not crop up as Congress was part of the DMK-led alliance.
But two decades later, now the scenario was different and the National party took the lead and entered into alliance with VIjay, as the state witnessed post poll realignment for the first time, leaving the alliance head DMK, which was already smarting under a heavy defeat, fuming.
Toeing the line, other allies like the VCK of Thol Thirumavalavan and the two left parties--CPI and CPI(M)--too are expected to take a similar decision, which could lead to more desertions from the DMK Front.
However, a final decision would be known by Friday.
Though Congress, which has been in alliance with the DMK for the last ten years after reviving it in 2016 Assembly polls, evinced interest in having a tie-up with the TVK for this elections, especially in the context of Vijay openly declaring that he was ready for share in power, things did not fall in place as perceived and the National party, which had raised the key demand of share in power--an anathema to both the DMK and AIADMK--besides higher number of seats and two Rajya Sabha seats, was forced to resign to its fate and stick with the Dravidian major.
After hard and hectic bargaining and scaling down its demand of 39 seats, higher than the 25 it had contested in 2021 resulting in strains in ties, it 'reluctantly' accepted the DMK's offer of 28 seats besides a Rajya Sabha seat. With more alliance parties, including the MDMK of Vaiko, VCK and the two left parties too pitching in for higher number of seat allocation, the DMK was under immense pressure in convincing them.
But Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin handled this turbulent phase with aplomb and managed to keep its flock together as the key partners settled for lesser number of seats, 'agreeing' to DMK's argument that it has to accommodate new parties that has come into the Front, while urging them to reduce their demand by one seat from what they contested in 2021.
All the parties in the DMK-led multi-party coalition did not fall prey to the power sharing bait of Vijay, chose to sail with the Dravidian major, faced the polls--the trend that started in 2017 and won all the successive polls--but suffered an unexpected reverse this year, getting buried under TVK's avalanche in its maiden foray into electoral politics, taking the entire TN poll firmament by surprise.
The swing in favour of Vijay was such that the polls threw up a fractured mandate and a hung Assembly for the first time. The TVK not only emerged as the single largest party, but also significantly dented the vote base of the two leading parties, that culminated in Stalin himself ending up on the losing side--for the first time in a quarter of a century (25 yrs since 1991)--in his stronghold of Kolathur seat from where he had won the last three successive polls.
With the TVK falling short of the halfway mark of 118 by 11 seats in the 234-member Assembly, Vijay reached out to Congress, VCK and the left parties of which the National party, acting true to the famous saying "Make hay while the sun shines", pitched its support to TVK that would ensure a place in the new Cabinet--for the first time after losing the polls in 1967 that brought an end to Congress rule in the state.
As other DMK allies like VCK and the two leftists--who have a total of six MLAs, expected to follow suit, the Tamil Nadu political scene could witness more post-poll realignment and establishment of a coalition government for the first time.
The TVK though secured 108 seats, technically it has 107 MLAs as Vijay won from two constituencies and it needed the support of another 11 MLAs, when the power hungry Congress, pitched in with the support of five of its MLAs. As the TVK still needed the support of another six MLAs, the stand to be taken by the VCK and the left parties was being keenly watched.
There were also talks of TVK in touch with the AIADMK, which has 47 MLAs on its own and finished third for the first time in its 53-year-old history, but senior party leader and Deputy General Secretary KP Munusamy, while dismissing media reports, categorically ruled out extending any support to Vijay and his party and said he was making this statement with the full consent of Party General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
It was in this context, the stand to be taken by the VCK, CPI and CPI-M will be known tomorrow.
Will this first ever post poll realignment and the coalition regime be a trendsetter in Tamil Nadu politics and would come to stay in future polls, only time will tell.
UNI GV IM