BREAKING| TVK Member Moves Supreme Court Seeking To Direct TN Governor To Invite Vijay's Party To Form Government

A writ petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Governor of Tamil Nadu not to invite anyone other than actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C Joseph Vijay to form a government in Tamil Nadu.

The petition has been filed by Advocate Ezhilarasi P, a member of TVK. The plea seeks directions to the Governor of Tamil Nadu to invite Vijay to form the government and swear him in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

TVK secured the highest number of seats (108 out of 234) in the recent assembly elections, the results of which were announced on Monday, May 4th. However, so far, the Governor has not invited anyone to form the new government.

TVK emerged as the single largest party in the 234-member Assembly. DMK won 59 seats, AIADMK secured 47 seats and Congress won 5 seats. With the support of Congress, TVK's tally reached 113 seats, which was five short of the majority mark of 118 seats. Vijay met the Governor on May 7, 2026 and staked claim to form the government.

As per a press release issued by Lok Bhavan, Chennai on May 7, 2026, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar informed Vijay that the requisite majority support in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly essential for forming the government had not been established. The petition contends that the Governor's failure to invite Vijay violated Articles 12 and 32 of the Constitution.

"The floor of the House is the only legitimate place to test a majority claim. No letter, affidavit, or support document given to the Governor can substitute for a vote on the floor of the Assembly. This principle has been affirmed by the Supreme Court in every government formation dispute since 1994", the plea contends.

The plea relies on constitutional conventions, the Sarkaria Commission Report and Supreme Court judgments in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994), Jagdambika Pal v. Union of India (1999), Chandrakant Kavlekar v. Union of India (2017), G. Parmeshwara v. Union of India (2018) and Shivraj Singh Chouhan v. Speaker, MP Legislative Assembly (2020).

The plea states that these authorities have established an order of preference for the inviting a party or alliance to form a government - the first preference is a pre-poll alliance that already commands a majority. The second preference is the single largest party that can demonstrate support from others to cross the majority mark. The third preference is a post-poll alliance commanding a majority, while recommending President's Rule under Article 356 is the last resort.

The petition argues that since no pre-poll alliance had secured a majority, TVK as the single largest party with Congress support is entitled to the first invitation to form the government. 

"The Governor must follow the Sarkaria Commission order of preference. Since no pre-poll alliance has a majority, the natural first call is to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam TVK as the single largest party, especially since it has already filed a formal claim with Congress's letter of support. The Governor's role is to invite and not to demand a full proof of majority before issuing the invitation", it states.

The petitioner has sought urgent hearing of the petition, contending, "The petitioner most respectfully submits that as per the settled legal position by this Hon'ble Apex court firstly the Hon'ble Governor is duty bound to invite the Leader of largest single party to form the Government and later prove the majority in the Floor. Since, Mr. Joseph Vijay the elected leader of the largest single party, from the media it is understood that the Hon'ble Governor may be inviting post poll coalition parties in Tamil Nadu to form the Government. This would amount to legal principles settled by this Hon'ble Apex court and death nell to the democracy on the whole." 

Case Title: Ezhilarasi P v. Principal Secretary, Governor of Tamil Nadu