In October 2024, TVK chief Joseph Vijay challenged that he would remove the Governor’s post if the party came to power in Tamil Nadu. Now, as TVK struggles to prove a majority after the 2026 Assembly election, Vijay has had to repeatedly approach Governor Rajendra Arlekar to stake claim to form the government.
When Vijay positioned himself against the Governor’s office, the argument was blunt and populist. He said the Governor’s post should be discontinued, portraying it as a constitutional office that often acts in unconstitutional ways and as an instrument used to obstruct elected state governments.
That line fit neatly into the larger Dravidian-federalist rhetoric of resisting central interference. It also helped Vijay signal that TVK stood with state rights and against unelected power centres that could frustrate the popular mandate.
But politics has a cruel way of exposing the distance between rhetoric and reality. After the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election left TVK as the single largest party with 108 seats but short of the 118 needed for a majority, Vijay found himself dependent on the very office he had once treated as dispensable. He went there not once, not twice but 4 times!
5 May 2026: A day after TVK emerged as the single largest party. he met the Governor to stake claim to form the government. It is reported that he submitted support from 112 MLAs – 5 from the Congress, but the Governor asked him to return with proof of support from 118 MLAs, the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly.
6 May 2026: Vijay met the Governor again for a second consecutive day. He was turned back once more because TVK still had not produced signatures or written support from 118 MLAs, and the Governor said the required majority had not yet been established.
8 May 2026: Vijay made a third visit as TVK continued trying to gather support from other parties. It was told that he had the support of 118 MLAs. However, it came to be known that he went with 116 MLAs only. The Governor once again pointed out that the numbers needed to form the government had not been conclusively established, and no invitation was issued
When Vijay gathers the remaining MLAs, he will make one more and probably the final visit to the Governor’s residence to stake claim to form the government.
Vijay squandered his opportunity to get approval the first time by initiating discussion as if he was looking to form a coalition government instead of staking claim as the single largest party.
The irony is telling: He once claimed he would remove the Governor post but has made multiple trips to Lok Bhavan already – Tharkuri Vijay Kazhagam for a reason?
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