TN govt formation impasse: Is BJP behaving like sore loser, asks NCP (SP)

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party SP on Thursday criticised the delay in government formation in Tamil Nadu following a hung verdict in the recently-concluded assembly polls and asked if the BJP was behaving like a sore loser.

The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) on Thursday criticised the delay in government formation in Tamil Nadu following a hung verdict in the recently-concluded assembly polls and asked if the BJP was behaving like a ''sore loser''. The single largest party should be invited to form a government, the NCP (SP) said. Government formation in the southern state has been on hold since assembly poll results were declared on May 4 after Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar conveyed to TVK chief Vijay that his party does not have the requisite support. Though TVK won the April 23 polls with 108 seats, it fell short of the majority mark of 118 to form government. The Congress, which has won five seats, has extended its support to TVK. The governor is a constitutional head and must fulfil the duty with neutrality, and without fear or favour, NCP (SP) national spokesperson Clyde Crasto said in a a statement. ''TVK led by Vijay is the single largest party in Tamil Nadu and has the proven support of other parties to fulfil the numbers to form the Government. Governor should constitutionally respect the mandate of the people and invite TVK and Vijay to form the government. Is BJP misusing its central powers in Tamil Nadu and behaving like sore losers,'' Crasto asked. NCP (SP) general secretary and MLA Rohit Pawar also criticised the delay in inviting Vijay to form the government in Tamil Nadu despite his party emerging as the single largest formation with Congress support. Drawing a comparison with the 2018 Karnataka political situation, Pawar said then governor Vajubhai Vala had invited the BJP to form the government and administered oath to BS Yediyurappa even though the party did not have a majority. ''In Karnataka in 2018, the BJP was invited to form the government as the single largest party despite lacking majority support. But in Tamil Nadu, even after the people rejected the BJP and gave TVK the maximum seats, Vijay has still not been invited to form the government,'' Pawar said in a social media post. Questions are now being raised over whether a political ''pattern'' similar to Maharashtra, Goa and Delhi was being attempted in Tamil Nadu, the MLA claimed.