Congress legal expert Abhishek Singhvi played a pivotal role in the formation of the TVK government in Tamil Nadu, just ahead of Vijay's oath-taking as chief minister. The party faced an emergency when a petition was hastily filed to prevent a party MLA, who had won by a single vote, from participating in the confidence motion. The hearing was scheduled for Sunday morning, creating a tense situation for TVK.
Emergency and Quick Action
In the close numbers game, every MLA was crucial. Frantic calls were made on Saturday night to Singhvi, who was in Goa. A chartered flight was arranged from Bengaluru, which reached Goa only at 8 am on Sunday. Singhvi managed to land in Chennai just in time to argue the case, but in the process, he missed the swearing-in ceremony of the superstar, for which he had been specially invited.
Singhvi's Ongoing Advisory Role
Singhvi, a man for all seasons, has been advising Vijay and TVK since the election campaign. After TVK emerged as the single largest party with 108 MLAs, it had to deal with a governor who insisted on letters of support from 118 MLAs, the majority mark. Insiders claim that Singhvi provided crucial inputs during the legal and political stalemate. He advised TVK to insist on its right as the single largest party to be invited to form the government while simultaneously gathering numbers to reach the majority. He also recommended having a buffer of at least five MLAs to counter unforeseen hurdles created by rivals. This advice paid off. Additionally, Singhvi appeared on television advocating TVK's cause and criticizing the governor's stance.
Connection with TVK
Sources reveal that Singhvi came into contact with TVK through now-minister Aadhav Arjuna, whose case he had fought during power struggles in the basketball association. However, the most intriguing part of this relationship emerged after the Karur stampede. Arjuna had posted an angry tweet about the incident, leading to a case against him, while TVK and Vijay faced a case over the stampede itself. Both TVK and the DMK government sought Singhvi's legal services. He agreed to take up Arjuna's tweet case while also handling the DMK's stampede case. Despite being archrivals, neither party questioned the lawyer's fairness. Finally, when the Congress left the DMK to join TVK after the election results, Singhvi appeared to lead from the front.
