Tamil Nadu Result – CHENNAI: By Wednesday evening the mood in the TVK camp turned from jubilant to worried as C Joseph Vijay’s party was looking at a gap of five seats to form government in the 234-seat assembly despite the Congress offering support. TVK sources said the Governor insisted on letters of support from sufficient number of MLAs before finalizing the date of swearing-in.

The ceremony scheduled for Thursday was put on hold. In the forenoon, Congress leaders met Vijay at the TVK headquarters in Panayyur with letters of support from five of its MLAs.

Vijay went to Lok Bhavan and informed Governor RV Arlekar about his intention to form the government. When no response came from Lok Bhavan till late evening, TVK’s Adhav Arjun met Arlekar again.

Meanwhile, AIADMK took its MLAs to a resort in Puducherry. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the DMK and AIADMK are in talks over the situation.

The Congress faced criticism from the DMK for “betraying the voters and abandoning the long-standing alliance”. At the end of the day, TVK, which is talking to parties in both rival alliances, was still trying to find the required numbers.

While IUML (2 MLAs) said it would not support TVK, other DMK allies VCK, CPI, CPM (2 MLAs each), and DMDK (1) are yet to commit. AIADMK, which had earlier opened channels of communication with TVK, also refused support. “Under no circumstances has AIADMK offered support to TVK,” party deputy general secretary K P Munusamy told reporters after general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami chaired the meeting of 47 new MLAs.