As Vijay Turned Away a Second Time, DMK Mulls the Unthinkable; What the Balance Sheet Says a Year After Operation Sindoor; West Bengal: Mission Accomplished
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Snapshot of the day
May 7, 2026
Anirudh S.K.
When Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief Vijay visited the Lok Bhavan in Chennai today to stake his claim a second time to form a government, governor Rajendra Arlekar again turned the actor-politician away on the grounds that he has not cobbled together a majority. Many have criticised the governor for refusing to invite Vijay – whose TVK won the most seats this election at 108, ten short of an outright majority, and who is thus far the sole claimant to power – with the Congress accusing the BJP of trying to influence the outcome in the state despite the saffron party winning just one MLA.
What are a governor’s legitimate options in such a situation? Former Lok Sabha secretary general P.D.T. Achary recalled speaking to The Federal’s S. Srinivasan that former President K.R. Narayanan’s insistence after the 1998 general elections that NDA allies provide letters of support has become a ‘template’ for governors (and presidents), who have the discretion on what to do next. But legal journalist V. Venkatesan said citing Supreme Court precedent that a “majority can be proved only on the floor of the House” and a governor “cannot decide whether a government can be stable or not”. Since the TVK is the largest party and no post-poll coalition has mustered the numbers, Arlekar has no choice but to invite Vijay and give him time to prove a majority, he argues. “If he fails, he falls. What is wrong in that?” Commentators have also noted that another option in the governor’s toolbox is the imposition of President’s Rule.
Vijay already has the Congress’s backing but the two Communist parties and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi have said they will decide on the TVK’s request for support on Friday. Meanwhile, DMK chief M.K. Stalin is reportedly considering supporting his arch-rival in the ADMK alongside smaller parties to form a majority. Stalin, who is said to have initially rejected the thought because he was just voted out of power, has apparently mooted the idea of supporting an ADMK-led government from the outside. The DMK also adopted a number of resolutions on Thursday, one among which indicts the Congress for ‘stabbing us in the back’.
It is now three days after votes in the recent round of elections were counted and Tamil Nadu is not the only state still without a chief minister locked in. In Kerala, the Congress high command has been asked to choose between outgoing leader of opposition V.D. Satheesan, Lok Sabha MP and general secretary in the All India Congress Committee K.C. Venugopal, and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala. In West Bengal, the BJP’s firebrand outgoing leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari is the frontrunner but the party has not yet made an announcement.
Adhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath was shot dead by miscreants in Madhyamgram just northwest of Kolkata on Wednesday night. The BJP blamed the Trinamool Congress, which condemned the incident. At least two others – a worker each from either party – have been killed in post-poll violence in Bengal, and there are reports of more deaths though the police was yet to confirm them earlier on Thursday. Hundreds have been arrested. Life in minority pockets across Kolkata has changed sharply, with the Times of India reporting that “with bikeborne miscreants riding through Muslim neighbourhoods chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, a sense of fear and unease has gripped residents”.
What does New Delhi have to say about Bangladesh foreign minister Khalilur Rahman’s remark that Dhaka will take action if West Bengal’s new BJP government unilaterally expels people across the border? The external affairs ministry
