Vijay Insisted On Waiting To Get Letter: Inside Story Of Governor Meet

They met four times in as many days and TVK supporters had accused the governor of delaying government formation, but when Vijay went to the Lok Bhavan again on Saturday, his meeting with Rajendra Arlekar was cordial throughout, sources have told NDTV. 

Vijay met the Tamil Nadu governor in the evening after securing letters of support from the VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Their 4 MLAs took the numbers of the coalition led by him to 120 - adding to 107 from the TVK, 5 of the Congress, and four from the Left parties, CPI and CPI(M). This tally put him two over the majority mark of 118 sought by the governor.

Sources said the governor specifically insisted on examining the support letters from the VCK and IUML, while indicating that he had already seen those by the Congress and the Left.

Satisfied that Vijay had the numbers, Arlerkar then asked the actor-turned-politician to indicate his preferred date and time for the swearing-in ceremony. This was eventually decided as 10 am on Sunday at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

"The governor said he would send the letter of appointment to Vijay in an hour, but the TVK chief insisted he would wait. He left an hour later, letter in hand," said a source.

Vijay was accompanied by leaders of several other parties, including the Congress, CPI(M), CPI and the VCK, and all of them were served vadai, halwa and coffee, the source added.

The meeting also saw lighter moments when leaders of parties allied with the superstar held video calls with family members and made him speak to their sons and daughters. 

Swearing-In

The successful outcome capped days of speculation over whether the TVK would be able to cobble together the numbers required to form the government.

Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi will be among the leaders attending the oath-taking ceremony on Sunday.