As Tamil Nadu's government formation crisis enters its fourth day with no resolution in sight, all eyes have turned to the man at the centre of it — Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, 71, who has so far declined to invite TVK chief Vijay to form the government despite his party emerging as the single largest formation in the 234-seat Assembly.
Here is a look at who he is.
From Goa Backstreets To Raj Bhavan
Born on April 23, 1954, in Panaji, Goa, Arlekar was associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his childhood and was imprisoned during the Emergency. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1989.
Arlekar belonged to the generation led by Manohar Parrikar, Shripad Naik and Laxmikant Parsekar that slowly transformed the BJP from a small outfit into a serious political force in Goa during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Unlike Parrikar, who emerged as a mass leader and administrator, Arlekar remained an organisation man. He held several key party posts over the years, including Goa BJP general secretary, South Goa BJP president and later Goa BJP state president between 2003 and 2007.
In 2002, Arlekar entered the Goa assembly for the first time from Vasco constituency. He served as MLA till 2007. After a brief political setback, he returned to the assembly in 2012 from Pernem constituency in North Goa.
That same year, he became Speaker of the Goa assembly.
Governor Who Travels With Controversy
After decades in organisation and state politics, Arlekar moved into constitutional roles. In July 2021, he became governor of Himachal Pradesh. In February 2023, he was transferred as Governor of Bihar. Then, in January 2025, he took oath as Governor of Kerala.
His Kerala tenure was turbulent from the outset. Both the ruling Left Democratic Front and the opposition Congress accused him of turning Raj Bhavan into an RSS office, with the controversy centring on an image of Bharat Mata holding a saffron flag — widely used by the RSS as a symbol of nationalism — displayed at official events.
He further sparked controversy when he edited the Kerala government's customary policy address to the Assembly, omitting sentences that criticised him for delays in passing bills and criticised the Centre for withholding the state's tax share — prompting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to stand up and publicly read out the omissions in the House.
He also drew fire from both the CPI-M and Congress after publicly calling a Supreme Court ruling on governors' timelines for dealing with legislature bills an "overreach" by the judiciary. In each instance, his critics drew the same conclusion: that the office of the Governor was being used as a political instrument by New Delhi.
Tamil Nadu Assignment — And The Crisis It Handed Him
Arlekar assumed office as Governor of Tamil Nadu on March 12, 2026 — barely six weeks before a state election that would produce Tamil Nadu's first hung Assembly since the 1950s. The timing left him little room to settle in before being thrust into a constitutional decision with no clean answer.
Following the election verdict, Arlekar has reportedly asked TVK chief Vijay for proof of majority support before inviting him to form a government — a position that constitutional experts argue is at odds with established precedent, which holds that the single largest party should be invited to attempt government formation and prove its majority on the floor of the House.
Critics — including the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, which has announced statewide protests — have accused the Governor of acting as a political gatekeeper, deliberately slowing the process to allow rival coalitions to consolidate.
ALSO READ: Vijay's TVK Vs AIADMK-DMK — Who Will Form Govt In Tamil Nadu? Experts Divided | 10 Key Points
Why His Background Matters
The political opposition to Arlekar in Tamil Nadu is not only about this moment. It is about a track record. He is described as an RSS man with close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership.
In a state where the BJP holds no seats and where the party that won the most seats is not aligned with New Delhi, every hour of delay in Raj Bhavan is being read — rightly or wrongly — as a political act. The decision he makes in the coming days will define his legacy in this state far more than anything he did in Goa, Bihar or Kerala.
ALSO READ: Vijay's TVK Supporters Detained During Protest Against Governor Amid Govt-Formation Deadlock
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