Around 5pm on Saturday, Vijay finally got 120.
By 7:10 p.m., the governor was scheduled to be airborne, which could leave him in trouble again.
In between came more suspense, as the Governor learned for the first time that he had canceled what would have been a fourth and perhaps decisive meeting; After that, the meeting was scheduled. HT has learnt that the governor has canceled his trip for the time being.
Cloak and dagger, or should we say “watch” and dagger? – And so it continued in Tamil Nadu, even as Vijay now seemed closer than ever to becoming chief minister.
With VCK and IUML finally on board, TVK has the numbers, but the man who should act on them had an IndiGo booking from Chennai to Thiruvananthapuram, which he ultimately decided not to do.
How do the numbers add up?
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), former allies of the defeated DMK, formally announced their support for TVK on Saturday evening, pushing Vijay’s alliance past the 118-seat majority mark to a comfortable 120 seats in the 234-member assembly.
The long-awaited letters, which have been rumored many times, are reportedly now in hand.
Arlikar Journey
There was only one problem. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlikar – the man who should receive the letters, verify them and invite Vijay to form the government – may not have been in Chennai.
Arlikar, a BJP veteran from Goa, has served as the governor of Kerala since January 2025, and took additional charge of Tamil Nadu only in March 2026. He is, in every constitutional sense, a man with one foot in every state. Kerala must also form a new government soon, and Congress will decide who will serve as prime minister there.
If Arlikar had departed from Chennai, the Tamil Nadu action would likely have been postponed to Monday, while the Kerala decision would be finalized by the Congress-led United Democratic Front in the meantime.
Arlekar has been a key player amid Vijay’s moves throughout the week, meeting the TVK chief several times without once extending a formal invitation to form the government.
TVK sources said the letters will be submitted to Raj Bhavan before the governor leaves. Then some reports said that Arlikar canceled this fourth meeting. But later it is revealed that he changed his plans to accommodate Vijay.
For now, the numbers are real. Tamil Nadu does not have to continue monitoring departure/arrival boards.
Parallel cinema
The complete turn of events of this week cinematically resembles Vijay’s own filmography.
When director Atlee Vijay donned a tracksuit and was asked to assemble a dysfunctional football team in the 2019 Tamil blockbuster Bigil, few could have imagined it would serve as a real-life instruction manual seven years later. Vijay was conducting the same exercise on a different political playing field this week.
The math seems deceptively simple. The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly requires 118 votes to obtain a majority. TVK won 108 seats – the largest single mandate in a hung house. After Vijay wins from two constituencies (one of which he must vacate), the actual number is 107. The shortfall is 11, which is the number of players you need to field a football team. Legally, he can do so with 10 as well, as the total members voting for the vote of confidence will also fall to 233 since Vijay cannot vote twice despite getting two seats.
He received nine votes from the Congress and Left parties, but two remained elusive till Saturday.
What he needed all along was a referee ready to blow the whistle.
