‘It isn’t over yet’: How Tamil Nadu’s power battle turned into one hell of a ride

Since the predetermination results connected May 4 threw up a hung House, it’s been a rollercoster thrust for TVK, which is inactive 1 abbreviated of bulk arsenic we spell to press. TOI pieces unneurotic accounts from respective sources—sometimes conflicting—about backroom manoeuvres. And, it isn’t implicit yet.Soon aft results of Tamil Nadu assembly predetermination were announced connected May 4 and it became wide that C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam had emerged arsenic the biggest party, with 108 seats, but was 10 seats abbreviated of a majority, the backroom manoeuvring began.AIADMK seniors S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam reportedly began efforts to technologist defections of 33 of 47 enactment MLAs to assistance TVK without Edappadi K Palaniswami’s knowledge. Operating from his location successful Chennai, Velumani, who reached the metropolis precocious evening connected May 4, plotted with Shanmugam to get 33 MLAs to their side, crossing the two-thirds people and skirting the anti-defection law.Around the aforesaid time, connected the nighttime of May 4, EPS reportedly began talks with DMK’s younker helping person and MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin connected forming a govt with enactment of 74 MLAs from the DMK and its allies to forestall Vijay from assuming office.

The connection soon gathered momentum, with respective elder DMK leaders backing the determination and mounting unit connected outgoing CM M K Stalin to see a tie-up with archrival AIADMK.

Parallely, for 3 days, from May 4 until May 6 noon, Velumani and Shanmugam held hectic parleys with TVK leaders Bussy Anand and Aadhav Arjuna too Vijay’s canvass strategist John Arokiasamy. The demands they laid retired included 1 ministerial berth for each 5 MLAs, which adds up to seven, too the station of 1 lawman CM.

There was full soundlessness from TVK aft Congress MLAs visited its Panaiyur bureau with letters of enactment connected May 6.TVK broke its soundlessness and resumed talks with the VelumaniShanmugam-led radical connected Thursday, May 7, aft VCK, CPI and CPM continued to prevaricate connected extending enactment to Vijay. At 11am the aforesaid day, Bussy Anand and Vijay’s person Vishnu Reddy met Velumani and held discussions with him for astir an hour. But hours aboriginal arsenic CPI and CPM declared their enactment for Vijay, TVK turned acold again to the Velumani-Shanmugam proposal.On May 6, Palaniswami excessively swung into action, summoning each recently elected AIADMK MLAs to his campy office. After a day-long bid of hectic discussions with elder leaders and erstwhile ministers, helium managed to thwart attempts by Velumani and Shanmugam to rally enactment MLAs successful enactment of Vijay forming the govt. Palaniswami remained steadfast against extending immoderate “voluntary support” to TVK. He subsequently deputed enactment lawman wide caput K P Munusamy to publically state that “AIADMK volition not widen enactment to TVK nether immoderate circumstance”.AIADMK MLAs were aboriginal ferried to resorts successful Puducherry connected May 6 and chopped disconnected from each forms of communication, successful a improvement reminiscent of the infamous Koovathur edifice occurrence that unfolded successful the aftermath of the decease of erstwhile main curate J Jayalalithaa.On May 7, Stalin held consultations with DMK MLAs and instructed them to abide by immoderate determination the enactment enactment yet took. It was during a gathering with allies CPI, CPM and VCK connected Thursday greeting that Stalin broached the thought of a DMK-backed, AIADMK-led govt and sought their support.

He is said to person urged allies not to sever ties abruptly similar the Congress and alternatively stay wrong the DMK alliance. The allies said they would see it.

“He told the allies not to bash thing without informing him. He said helium would not halt them,” a person of the confederation said. On Friday night, VCK main Thol Thirumavalavan met Stalin astatine his Cenotaph Road residence, seemingly to sermon an amicable separation.Though Stalin maintained publically that DMK preferred to relation arsenic a beardown opposition, aggravated backchannel negotiations continued to forestall Vijay from forming govt. The effect from allies was acold from unanimous. As for EPS, helium travelled to Puducherry to conscionable the MLAs earlier returning to Chennai aboriginal connected Friday night.Eventually, the plans of the Dravidian majors failed to instrumentality signifier aft Left parties showed small involvement successful the proposal. Instead, they moved person to VCK and decided to enactment TVK. While the 2 Left parties openly extended enactment to TVK successful its bid to signifier the adjacent government, VCK continued to follow a wait-and-watch approach, with the enactment saying a last determination would beryllium announced connected May 9 morning. There was a precocious nighttime broadside amusement with AMMK person TTV Dhinakaran calling connected Governor Arlekar and demanding that EPS beryllium sworn successful main minister.