TVK chief Vijay will meet TN Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday evening on government formation, according to an official source.

This would be his third meeting with the governor over staking the claim to form the government this week.

A source in the TVK said that during the meeting, Vijay is likely to present his case with regard to government formation.

The numbers now appear to be in Vijay’s favour. TVK has 107 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly, while the Congress has extended support with its five MLAs. The CPI and CPI(M), which have two MLAs each, have also backed TVK after internal meetings. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), which has two MLAs, has agreed to support Vijay as well. Together, the alliance touches 118 — the majority mark of 118 needed to form the government.

On Friday, negotiations unfolded across Chennai as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge personally spoke to VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan to secure support for the TVK-led formation.

Soon after, the CPI Working Committee and CPM’s state leadership also extended support to Vijay, potentially ending the uncertainty over who forms the next government.

The Governor and Vijay met on Wednesday and Thursday too. Both times Arlekar dismissed Vijay's claim to form the government, arguing the TVK leader does not have the required support in the House.

Lok Bhavan later issued a statement saying the “requisite majority support” needed to form the government had not been established.

That decision triggered protests by TVK cadres outside the Raj Bhavan, while Congress announced statewide demonstrations against both the Governor and the BJP-led Centre.

In response to Arlekar’s decision on Thursday, Congress leader Girish Chodankar had said the Governor must invite the single largest party to form the government. He told the media that a majority can only be tested on the assembly floor. He also accused the BJP and RSS of attempting indirect influence despite the BJP having just one MLA in the assembly.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai had called for protests across district headquarters on May 8, alleging that the governor was acting against the constitution by attempting to prevent TVK from forming the government.