Tamil Nadu struggles to form government

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata on Friday to oversee the BJP selection of its legislative party leader after the party’s landslide victory in West Bengal.

Shah, appointed central observer for the process, is expected to meet newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators later in the day ahead of the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and other senior BJP leaders are expected to attend the event.

Senior BJP leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Agnimitra Paul are seen as frontrunners for the chief minister’s post, media reports said.

Governor RN Ravi dissolved the state assembly on Thursday after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to resign following her party’s poll debacle, alleging irregularities by the BJP.

“I have not lost… I will not tender resignation,” Banerjee told a press conference on Tuesday.

The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, while the Trinamool Congress secured 80, paving the way for the party’s first government in the state.

Four days after Tamil Nadu’s Assembly election results were announced, uncertainty over government formation continues on Friday as actor-politician Joseph Vijay’s TVK remains short of a majority.

On Thursday, governor of the southern Indian state, Rajendra Arlekar, a member of the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had not yet demonstrated the majority support needed to stake a claim to power.

After his second meeting with Vijay in two days, the governor said on Thursday that proving majority support was “essential” for government formation, according to an official release.

The TVK leadership said that they are in talks with other parties to gain support. The Congress party has agreed, bringing the total number of seats to 113, with 118 needed for a majority. However, gaining the last 5 seats has proved elusive so far. 

What do the numbers say?

• Seats newcomer party TVK won: 108 seats
• Seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly: 243
• Seats required to form a government: 118
• TVK seats with support of Congress party: 113

Governor Arlekar’s a member of the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unusual insistence that Vijay first submit 118 letters of support has drawn criticism even from TVK rivals.

Criticizing the governor’s stance, other parties said Vijay should be invited to form the government and allowed to prove his majority on the floor of the House.

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Hello! This is Shakeel from DW’s New Delhi Studio bringing you the latest updates from across India.

We are looking at the deadlock in Tamil Nadu over government formation, as Joseph Vijay’s newcomer Tamilaga
Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) hit an early hurdle after the governor asked the party to prove its majority support.

Following the BJP’s resounding victory in West Bengal, Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to meet newly elected party legislators in Kolkata to decide the state’s first BJP chief minister.

Meanwhile, in Bihar, more than 150 children fell ill after eating a meal at school.

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