In Tamil Nadu, as to whether actor-turned-politician Vijay will take the oath to succeed to the post today to become Chief Minister of the state, the political situation is still in high disarray.
In the recent Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Vijay's party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) made a new political history by winning 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, making it the single largest party and the first for it. But the party still lags behind as it has 10 seats shy of achieving the 118 majority, which would bring about delays when forming a government.
The Congress party and a handful of smaller wings are said to have given support to TVK, but no official confirmation from Raj Bhavan is available on the invitation to form a government. The Governor seems to be meticulously reviewing the information before coming to a verdict, sources say.
The delay magnified political suspense throughout the state as thousands of Vijay supporters poured out outside party offices and key sites in Chennai to register their hopes for a formal announcement on the swearing-in ceremony. Social media is also filled with hashtags backing him and urging the single-largest party to be given the chance to show it has the biggest voting time in the Assembly on the floor.
Other opposition parties have meanwhile wondered if TVK is now supported enough to mount the necessary support to build a viable government. Experts speculate that for the next few hours, alliances and independent support of the legislature will matter, and in either direction, it could be the decisive factor.
Reports of severe political manoeuvring from the side also contribute to the drama. Concern over potential “horse-trading” has apparently led alliance leaders to adopt preventative steps against losing their MLAs. There are reports that the Congress leaders are closely interacting with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, who knows how to manage sensitive political positions in coalition crises.
Some legislators backing the alliance are said to have been moved to secure places in the face of the threat that rival camps seeking to influence them ahead of the trust vote before the vote actually starts. Though the situation is not yet known, TVK leaders are confident Vijay will ultimately become the Chief Minister.
Party senior members have said that talks with independent players and smaller regional parties are going well and are confident the union will reach a majority before long. For Vijay, the moment represents a total turnaround from being one of cinema's superstars to a serious political player who is going to transform Tamil Nadu politics.
His meteoric ascent is already remoulding and upending the old political order that has long dominated for decades in Tamil Nadu, dominated by the DMK and AIADMK. There is no word on whether the oath-taking ceremony will happen today.
However, Chennai is still full of politics, and people are looking for the Raj Bhavan to make another big announcement. This might be the time that Vijay takes an oath today or when he has proved he enjoys majority support, but the fact that this is already getting more political is no doubt one element of the drama of Tamil Nadu’s recent change.
