Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 8 : Congress Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar termed Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's actions as "an attack on democracy, constitution and public mandate" as his party protests against the latter for not inviting TVK Chief Vijay to form the next government despite his party emerging as the single-largest formation in the Assembly elections.
Speaking tofrom the protest side at Mount Road, Chodankar said that Congress is upholding constitutional and democratic values and cannot "backstab" the public mandate.
"We are always upholding the constitutional values, democratic values, and our leader, Rahul Gandhi, is fighting to protect this. Today, there is an attack on democracy, the Constitution, public mandate. We have respected the mandate of the people. We cannot backstab the public mandate," he said.
Tamil Nadu Congress President K Selvaperunthagai said, "We have to protect the Constitution of India...We are protesting against the Governor."
Congress has offered conditional support to the TVK's Vijay to form a government in Tamil Nadu and severed its ties with the DMK. Vijay's TVK has been working to garner support from other parties to form a government in Tamil Nadu since the verdict delivered a fractured mandate.
With the support of five Congress MLAs, the alliance stands at 113, still five short of the majority mark of 118 in the 234-member assembly.
Earlier, Governor Arlekar on Thursday invited TVK's Vijay to Lok Bhavan, and explained that the requisite majority support in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, essential for forming the Government, has not been established.
According to sources, the Governor sought clarity on the "magic number" required for government formation and asked Vijay to furnish details of legislators backing TVK's claim to form the government in Tamil Nadu. Arlekar's not callling Vijay to form the government has drawn fiery remarks and allegations from its leaders.
Vijay's TVK has been working to garner support from other parties to form a government in Tamil Nadu since the verdict delivered a fractured mandate.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan has said the party's high-level committee would meet in the evening to discuss the current political situation in Tamil Nadu, including an invitation from TVK seeking support for government formation. VCK's two seats will help Vijay reach closer to the majority mark.
Speaking tooutside his residence in Chennai, Thirumavalavan said the party would decide its stand after detailed discussions in the meeting.
"This evening we have a room meeting with high-level committee members. We are going to discuss the current political scenario and will decide what our stance in this crisis is," he said.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) also held an executive meeting to discuss whether they would support Vijay. They both have two seats each.
If CPI (M), CPI and VCK come together, along with Congress, Vijay's TVK will cross the majority mark, forming the government in his first attempt.
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