S Gurumurthy Exclusive: Vijay's Historic But 'Messy' Govt Formation | What It Means

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:04]Welcome back. You're watching NewsX. My name is Vinit Malotra. We have someone special to talk to uh now at this point in time. Mr. Swami Natan Gurum Morti, editor of Touglak magazine joins us on the program. Mr. Gurum Morti, I appreciate you taking out the time and speaking to us. Sir, it's it's a it's a momentous day today for Indian politics, for Tamil politics and least of all Dravidian politics. What do you make of Vijay's emphatic victory? Obviously, most of the pollsters except one got this projection absolutely wrong. How do you see this coming of age of a new party, a new dawn in Tamil Nadu politics?

[00:00:46]I don't regard Vijay's TV as a party >> but it is something which in which manifested the desire of long felt desire of Tamil Nadu to get out of the two Dvidian parties. So it is the commencement or manifestation of dravidianization of Tamil Nadu.

[00:01:10]TMK represents the spirit of Dvidian party. a Dravidian party continuation of the tradition of the anti- anti-Hindu anti-north anti-brahin anti- good thus the DNA continues in the DMK but ADMK had moved out of this but it also is a pseudo gravidian party and a pseudo nationalist party >> that is how no other party nationalist parties were not growing in fact Nationalist parties were supporting the Dvidian parties and in my view Dvidian parties are surviving on the support of national parties from 1971. Many people do not read it that way but that is a fact. So Vijay's coming meant the devianization of Tamil Nadu politics. I have taken this position.

[00:02:07]Number two Vijay doesn't have a party.

[00:02:10]But I don't know whether he will know the names of all the MLAs whom he has got elected.

[00:02:15]>> So suddenly he has won. He himself was not sure he would win. Even he was not aware that he was going to get so many numbers. So it has shocked him as much as it has shocked most. But now what's happening is that the two Dvidian parties feel that their political space which they have monopolized for the last 60 years is slipping out slipping out of their hands and there is money, there is power, there is position, there is family. I mean all the interests are intertwined and so they believe they have forgotten all their mutual bickerings and rivalry and and the kind of rivalry they demonstrated you don't know it it seared down to the last man they would not even see and meet each other and talk >> that kind of rivalry they are willing to forget and come together means they want to preserve their commercial interest for them politics is commerce So Vijay on the one hand and this on the other I had said that if these people attempt to capture power it'll be a fraud on the people of Tamil Nadu because they have been rejected whether Vijay is the choice or not is we don't even know who is Vijay >> we don't know what are his principles he keeps the same EL picture so we don't know what he is but he certainly is not what these two people two parties are >> so they want to stop you at any cost.

[00:03:50]But now the numbers are so peculiar.

[00:03:53]>> Out of 234 members, you have to remove Vijay and the house strength becomes 233. You have to remove the BJP because neither side wants the BJP. So 232 in 232 Vijay has a firm 116.

[00:04:10]M >> on the other side there are single member parties too. There are two double member parties who offered support and have withdrawn harsh trading is going on on the side of the DMK at the ADMK.

[00:04:25]>> So even if one shifts to this side >> right sir >> then Vijay will win. My feeling is this haggling and bargaining will go on unnecessarily. Vijay got into trouble by not claiming to be the single largest party but asking for formation of a coalition government and supporting the tendering the congress letter which was a conditional letter. He said take me in power I will support you. This itself means that the this house trading had started.

[00:04:57]>> Correct. So the governor said come on if you are forming a coalition government show me 116. So the track changed from single largest party to coalition government because of a tactical technical and immature uh uh mistake that was committed by TVK >> that has landed TV in trouble and Tamil Nadu in trouble and the governor in trouble >> and gave hope to the PJP to to the ADMK and DMK.

[00:05:25]>> Correct sir. So u let's also talk about some other facets that definitely could affect uh TVK and Vijay. There's BJP at the center you know a party extremely proficient in conducting its business.

[00:05:41]It's it's it's a election machinery and then you have Vijay now at the helm of affairs in Tamil Nadu. How is his inexperience going to be countered by the opposition and especially the bhhati jantaa party at the center?

[00:05:57]>> You see so far as the BJP is concerned at the moment in this election it has been reduced the status of a a witness.

[00:06:05]Now right now it is only in future how the BJP will approach Tamil Nadu politics because it cannot keep away from Tamil Nadu politics in which Vijay is a freebie offer I mean I have not really calculated but the calculation which has appeared in the media is almost 30% of the revenue of Tamil Nadu government that means he has to very heavily be reliant on the central government. Correct.

[00:06:36]>> So the central government will have a very high leverage over him and uh if he doesn't implement this uh this freebies then he will get into trouble on the first day itself.

[00:06:48]So my feeling is that he's of course he he doesn't have a party he has gathered a crowd into a party. Even his MLAs are a crowd. They don't know each other.

[00:07:00]There is no party structure. there is no relationship and it's it's it's a it's a I wouldn't call it a mly crowd it is an unfamiliar crowd so he will have huge trouble in running the government I mean himself he's a very reclusive person and I'm told uh there doesn't seem to be any capable advisor to him and uh I don't know just as the opposition with ADMK and DMK trying to gather as much space as possible even to grab power. He has put Tamil Nadu in a messy situation.

[00:07:37]Vijay's party which is messy.

[00:07:41]>> He's not going to be in power and I think Vijay will get into power because at least one will shift for something or the other to Vijay's side >> and make it 17.

[00:07:51]>> So my feeling is Vijay will come to power. Of course uh it's after uh unnecessary trouble uh inviting the trouble because of the technical fault but I do hope that we form the government by Monday. This is my surmise.

[00:08:06]>> So so one last question before we let you go. You also said a few days ago that Hindutwa's sentiment is rising in Tamil Nadu.

[00:08:15]>> Yes.

[00:08:15]>> Is this victory a result of that rising sentiment? Does it have anything to do with this victory?

[00:08:21]>> No. Because the Hindup sentiment in Tamil Nadu has not acquired political dimensions.

[00:08:28]>> It is cultural politically neutral.

[00:08:31]Tamil Nadu politics is largely governed by cast. Vijay's entry has broken that cast uh based voting because he has secured support from all the communities. So there appears to be a hope that another thing uh both DMK and ADMK used to bribe the waters with cash and in the last 15 years 20 years it was almost considered that you must have money to win elections. Now this change has shown that through money you cannot win elections. So in that sense Tamil Nadu politics has melted. It was frozen because of the Dravidian parties culture the way of doing things their corruption their uh their changing place mutually from opposition to ruling and ruling to opposition that seems to have melted in this election. That gives hope for the BJP because BJP cannot be competing with the Dvidian parties distributing money and things like that. I think the BJP's entry is facilitated by this election.

[00:09:46]How the BJP handles it. It depends upon its own the leadership that it is going to develop. Panama was developing as a very good leader which the BJP has to had to sacrifice because it had to make adjustments with the ADMK and I hope that the BJP will restore its house in order bring back a person like Mana Anamalai and take forward the party in a in a state which is melting away from the frozen conditions of the Dravidian ideology.

[00:10:16]>> Absolutely sir. Absolutely sir. Always a pleasure having you. Thank you so much for speaking