A day after the election results, resort politics has officially begun in Tamil Nadu. Falling short of the numbers to form the government, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has moved all its 107 MLAs-designate to the Four Points Resort located on the OMR road on the outskirts of Chennai.

The aim is to keep the flock together as the party is short of numbers to form the government.

The MLAs have been moved to the highly protected resort from where none of them will be able to reach out to the other political parties. “This is only a cautious approach to prevent any potential poaching before the government formation is formally finalised,”  say sources in the TVK.

Meanwhile, the party has also opened negotiations with the other political parties and has also poached a few MLAs from the AIADMK, which has won from 47 seats. Falling just a dozen seats short of the magic number, TVK leader C. Joseph Vijay, whose party emerged as the single largest in the state, is likely to seek support from secular forces, including the Congress, Left parties, and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK). Thirumavalavan’s VCK and several other smaller parties, which secured single-digit seat counts, could play a pivotal role in government formation.

“We have not got any invitation for talks or negotiations from the TVK. We are still part of the Secular Progressive Alliance. We will decide if we get any invitation from the TVK,” Thirumavalavan told the media. The state secretaries of the two left parties – Veerapandian, Shanmugam, and Thirumavalavan are in a closed-door meeting to decide on the next course of action. Three parties with two MLAs each are expected to support the TVK in reaching the majority mark.

The Congress has won five seats, the VCK has won in two constituencies, both the Left parties have won from two each, Vijayakanth’s DMDK has won from one seat, and the IUML has two seats.

“We are continuing in the secular progressive alliance,” Premalatha Vijayakanth told the media from Virudhachalam after receiving her MLA certificate. Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, who led the PMK faction, which has won from four constituencies, is also exploring options to support the TVK. The TVK has already opened negotiations with these parties to form the government.

On the other side, the lone MLA from TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) Kamaraj, who won against DMK’s TRB Rajaa from Mannargudi, is likely to switch sides to the TVK. Meanwhile, former minister K.A. Sengottaiyan, who had won from his home turf Gobichettipalayam in a TVK ticket, is said to have opened backdoor negotiations with the AIADMK MLAs, promising them lucrative portfolios.

To counter this, the AIADMK leadership had called for the MLAs to meet in Chennai on Wednesday. However, AIADMK insiders say that Edappadi K. Palaniswami is also exploring options to extend outside support to the TVK to form the government.