India, May 9 -- When Tamil Nadu's election results came in on May 4, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had won 108 seats in a 234-member Assembly - the single largest mandate, but short of the majority. What followed was five days of negotiations in which every party that eventually backed Vijay did so citing not confidence in his leadership as such, but the fear of what would happen without it.

That fear had two faces: President's Rule, and the Centre's ruling BJP. This, even when the BJP has a grand total of one seat in the new, 17th Tamil Nadu assembly.

When no party can demonstrate a majority in a state assembly, the Governor may recommend to the President that the state cannot be governed constitutionally. Under Article 356 of...