M.A. Baby’s TVK Push Exposes Tamil Nadu’s Real Leverage Game
The CPI(M) is betting on TVK, not an AIADMK comeback. The Governor now sits at the center of a hung-Assembly fight over who gets first claim.
M.A. Baby has dismissed talk of a DMK-AIADMK pact to block actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, and instead urged Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to invite TVK to form the government, saying the people’s mandate was “clearly” with the single-largest party, which is 11 seats short of a majority in the 234-member Assembly (
The Hindu). That is not just a constitutional argument. It is a move to lock in the first-mover advantage before rival arithmetic can harden.
The Governor holds the procedural leverage
Baby’s core claim is that the Governor should invite the largest party first and let it prove majority on the floor of the House, rather than waiting for a pre-packaged 118-seat majority to emerge on paper (The Hindu). That aligns with the logic TVK is already pressing: the party says it is the single-largest force after the fractured verdict, and it wants its support letters recognized so Vijay can be asked to stake claim (The Hindu).
The Governor’s refusal so far matters because it sets the terms of bargaining. If Arlekar keeps insisting on a demonstrated majority before an invitation, he strengthens the hand of parties that want to renegotiate after the election rather than before it. That is why the Left is treating the issue as a test of convention, not just procedure (
The News Minute).
Why the Left has chosen TVK over tactical ambiguity
Baby’s biggest signal is not his criticism of the Governor; it is the Left’s choice to back TVK rather than entertain any outside-support formula for AIADMK. The CPI and CPI(M) had been weighing whether to support an AIADMK government backed from outside by the DMK, but party meetings in Chennai tilted toward TVK instead (The Hindu). That closes off the most obvious anti-TVK compromise and turns the Left into an arithmetic broker for Vijay.
The numbers are straightforward. TVK won 108 seats and needs 118 for a majority; the Congress has already offered support, and CPI, CPI(M), and VCK together can supply the rest if they stick together (The Hindu, The Hindu). That leaves DMK and AIADMK trying to influence the process from outside the main numbers game.
What to watch next
The next decision point is simple: whether the Governor accepts the support letters and invites Vijay, or keeps demanding proof of majority in advance. If Arlekar stays firm, the contest shifts to the floor of the Assembly and to whatever last-minute bargaining follows. If he relents, TVK gets the momentum and the constitutional high ground.
For Delhi, the signal is sharper: Tamil Nadu is becoming a test case for how much discretion a Governor can exercise in a hung House. For more on the national implications, see 
India and Global Politics.
