TVK moves SC seeking direction to governor to invite it to form govt in Tamil Nadu

Actor Vijay-led TVK on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to invite his single-largest party to form the government in the state. Though the Congress party, with five MLAs, has extended support to the TVK, it is still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark.

Actor Vijay-led TVK on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to invite his single-largest party to form the government in the state. The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly in the April 23 polls and emerged as the single-largest party. Though the Congress party, with five MLAs, has extended support to the TVK, it is still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark. TVK founder Vijay has met Governor Arlekar twice, requesting to be invited to form the government. However, no invitation has been extended so far to the new party. During the day, two Left parties, CPI and CPI (M), each having two seats, also extended support to the TVK, bringing it closer to the magic number of 118 legislators required for a simple majority. The plea in the apex court was filed by Ezhilarasi K and it contended that the governor's ''failure'' to invite Vijay violated Articles 12 and 32 of the Constitution.