Chennai (Tamil Nadu)

As Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam attempts to stitch an alliance to cross the 118 majority mark, the party's General Secretary N Anand on Wednesday met with AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). Other senior TVK leaders have also contacted the AIADMK General Secretary.

TVK, which stands at 108 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly, is just 10 short of the 118 halfway majority mark. Congress, with five seats had already extended its support. However, the Vijay still needs five more seats to form a government. Vijay could also abandon the Congress in favour of the AIADMK which has significantly more seats. The Congress' long association with the DMK is not helping its case despite its leaders itching to ally with Vijay.

If TVK manages to ally with AIADMK, which won 47 seats in the assembly election, they will comfortably cross the halfway mark without needing the Congress's support.

Earlier, AIADMK leader CV Shanmugam said that his party will take the final decision over allying with TVK.

Shanmugam said, "The party has to take the decision" while speaking to reporters as AIADMK MLAs arrived at his residence in Chennai, amidst buzz of 'talks' between party General Secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami and TVK chief Vijay.

Reports suggest that there is a faction within the AIADMK that is inclined to support Vijay and his party by offering support to him. There have also been reports that these MLAs are not too happy with Edappaddi Palaniswami's leadership.

TVK's Chief Vijay also sought time from Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar to meet him as part of the process for government formation, TVK sources said.

On the other side, Congress is ready to end one of its longest-standing alliances as it gears up to support TVK and Vijay with its 5 MLAs to form the government in Tamil Nadu.

Congress MP and Senior leader Manickam Tagore whose outburst against the DMK's denial of power sharing in the state had become the talk of the alliance prior to the polls justified his party's stand.

"The verdict has gone against the DMK government. Half the ministers in the Cabinet have lost their seats. We faced collateral damage for no fault of ours. Now, BJP is eyeing Tamil Nadu. The question before us is clear, should we stand with those rejected by the people's verdict, or should we unite with the force that fought against BJP and fight to stop BJP from ruling Tamil Nadu?" he posted on X.

READ MORE: Shah Taj Khan: The scribe who brought Science fiction to Urdu

TVK Chief Vijay had written to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge seeking support and indications are that the Congress has agreed and is likely to pull allies VCK and the Left parties along with it.

With Rahul Gandhi's personally calling Vijay on Tuesday night the Congress' support is a foregone conclusion, now the ball is really in Vjay's court if he chooses to take the Congress along or opt for fracturing the AIADMK.