00:00dramatic developments that have been taking place in Tamil Nadu. I come to you right outside the
00:05Nehru Stadium which from inside has been decked up over the course of the last 24 hours waiting
00:10for Kalapati Vijay to take oath. The latest news break that of course is coming in right now is
00:17word that is filtering in from the Raj, the Lok Bhavan. The governor sources tell us that they
00:26have assured Vijay that he will not invite, that the governor will not invite any other party.
00:32TBK has to come back with numbers, with signatures and then Vijay will be sworn in. No appointments
00:38sought by EPS with governor. So that's the latest. It seems that one thing is clear that the governor
00:43of Tamil Nadu has decided that he will not invite Vijay until and unless Vijay can prove a majority
00:50and that in effect coming in from the governor where sources tell us that the governor did try
00:58and assuage fears where TBK members and Vijay was concerned stating that they will not be inviting
01:06any other political party to stake claim or give them an opportunity to form government. Also what
01:13was cleared was the fact that EPS or the AIDNK has not sought an appointment with the governor. If
01:21you remember there was early this morning, you know, there were indications that even AIDNK had
01:26sought an appointment with the governor. So that's the latest news break coming in. The governor clearly
01:31once again hedging. This time around it seemed that it was the governor who had called Vijay in a course
01:38of 24 hours once again to see if he has the numbers. Nothing had changed where Vijay was concerned.
01:44He went in yesterday with the same letter pledging that he had the support of the Congress, which are
01:50five candidates that have won from the Congress. TBK 108 would be 107 if you move one seat, which was
01:58because Vijay won from both his seats. So that's 107. You add plus five to it and that brings it
02:04in 112.
02:05TBK looking very closely at VCK and the left parties to give them support, which would take the
02:13TBK well above the magic number. Having said that, the governor now coming in, the governor has come
02:19under heavy criticism from political parties across the country as well as in Tamil Nadu, where leaders
02:27seem to suggest that it is the governor who, that majority is of course tested on the floor assembly and
02:34not in the Raj Bhawan or the Lok Bhawan here. And the governor needs to call upon Vijay to prove
02:42his
02:42majority and give him the chance to prove his majority on the floor of the house. But he seems
02:48to have assuaged fears of the TMK saying we are not going to invite any other political party. I want
02:53to bring in Maria, my colleague who's breaking this news as well. But Maria, where is the chance of bringing
02:58in any other political party? Nobody quite has the numbers to do so. Because yesterday, you know, there was
03:04word that was floated that AID, MK, DNK would be coming in together. But you had MK Stalin speaking to
03:10a
03:10local newspaper, making it very clear that they've bowed out of this race. They don't, MK Stalin saying
03:17categorically doesn't want to create a constitutional issue in the state of Tamil Nadu, will give Vijay the next six
03:24months of governance and hoping he'd take forward his welfare scheme. So when the governor says
03:29that or the sources say they have assured Vijay that he will not invite any other political party,
03:35there is no political party on the horizon that can actually attempt to stake claim.
03:41Yes, Preeti, you're right. But over the last few hours, there were reports suggesting
03:45that Adapati Palani Swami could meet governor and that meeting has been now delayed. Those were the
03:50reports that had come in. So the governor's office is telling us that there's no question of meeting
03:55any other political party and that Adapati Palani Swami has not sought any meeting either.
04:01So I think the second round of meeting which happened between governor R. Lekker and actor
04:06Vijay becomes particularly interesting and fascinating, I would say, because this time around,
04:12Vijay did go with 112 signatures that he has. So in all, he needs six more. And over the last
04:18few
04:19hours, there have been some very interesting developments which have happened, which included
04:22VCK chief and also the left parties who have in all six MLAs meet MK Stalin. What reports are coming
04:31in is that MK Stalin has told them that they should decide as per their own political convenience and also
04:36their wisdom and that they are of the opinion that whatever the decision is taken, they would be
04:41backing it. I think the point that has been made by the governor's office here is largely to do with
04:46stability. And that is what has been criticized widely, that why should the numbers be proven
04:51outside, not on the floor of the house? Because the precedent, as you pointed out rightly, Preeti, is
04:55that the single largest party, the head of the single largest party has to be invited to form the
04:59government. And only after the oath-taking ceremony is through and by the proclam speaker on the floor
05:05of the new assembly that the test happens whether the government of the day has the numbers.
05:11Right. In terms of optics, this doesn't look good at all. However, the governor says he's still taking
05:17legal opinion, but I want to bring you in once again. So, what is also seemingly your sources have
05:24told you from the governor's office is that once again, now this is in 24 hours, the second time, this
05:30time, it was the governor who had asked Vijay to come. One thing is clear that the governor is not
05:35giving a go-ahead to
05:36Vijay until and unless he has signatures of 118 winning candidates supporting him on that letter.
05:45So, there is, as per now, no chance that Governor Arlekar is going to give that chance to Vijay to
05:54stake claim as well as give him a chance to test his majority on the floor of the assembly. He
06:00wants the
06:01signatures in advance, correct? That's right. So, as of now, it's a status quo from what happened
06:08yesterday. So, the governor needs signatures of MLAs before active Vijay is invited to form the
06:15government and his swearing-in ceremony will take place only after the signatures are provided to the
06:21governor, is what sources are saying that the governor's office is of the opinion that there are
06:26multiple cases that even in the case of a minority government, there are judgments that are being
06:30quoted, including SR Bumai judgment, that the governor has to be convinced that the government that he
06:35wishes to invite must have the numbers and then only the governor can go ahead with it. But overall, as
06:41I said,
06:41Preeti, with the kind of mandate that Vijay has, it appears to be only a delaying tactic, many would say,
06:50but the governor's office is of the opinion that they would prefer stability over instant decision
06:55of swearing in a new government.
07:00Right. Well, delaying tactics or pressure tactics, multiple theories at play in Tamil Nadu,
07:06because what foxes most political watchers viewers? Thank you, Maria, for joining us.
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