DMK AIADMK era ends: Vijay takes oath as Tamil Nadu CM; Rahul Gandhi attends ceremony

Actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay took oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, capping days of intense political negotiations and ending the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK in the state’s politics.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder-chief at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

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The 51-year-old actor-politician took oath after securing the backing of Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), pushing the numbers in his favour to 120 in the 234-member Assembly – just above the majority mark of 118.

Along with Vijay, nine other TVK MLAs took the oath as ministers: ‘Bussy’ N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, K A Sengottaiyan, besides K G Arunraaj, P Venkataramanan, C T R Nirmal Kumar, A Rajmohan, Keerthana and K T Prabhu. 

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, whose Congress party was in alliance with DMK but extended support to TVK,  also attended the swearing-in ceremony of Vijay. 

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Vijay’s TVK had emerged as the single-largest party in the Assembly elections, winning 108 seats, but fell short of a majority on its own. 

The breakthrough came on Saturday after the VCK and IUML, both allies of the DMK-led front, extended support to the TVK government. The two parties later handed over letters of support to the governor.

Governor Arlekar subsequently invited Vijay to form the government and asked him to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly on or before May 13. 

The swearing-in marked the rise of the first non-DMK, non-AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu in nearly 70 years.

TVK workers gathered in large numbers outside the party office and the venue, bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets after Vijay’s appointment as Chief Minister. 

Even as the Congress broke ties with the DMK to support the TVK government, the VCK and IUML maintained that they would continue to remain part of the DMK-led alliance while extending “outside support” to Vijay.

The government formation process unfolded amid hectic lobbying, allegations of horse-trading, and the return of “resort politics” in Tamil Nadu. Congress MLAs supporting the TVK were shifted to Hyderabad, while TVK legislators stayed at a resort in Mamallapuram near Chennai during the negotiations.

The AIADMK, whose MLAs had briefly moved to Puducherry, later returned to Chennai. Party chief  Edappadi K. Palaniswami greeted the “party that is set to form the government.”

Vijay had contested and won from Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli East. He will now have to vacate one seat, reducing the TVK’s strength in the Assembly to 107. 

Still, with the backing of Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, and IUML, the TVK remains above the majority mark ahead of the trust vote.