NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph Vijay on Wednesday won the crucial floor test in the state assembly, formally proving the majority of his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led post-poll coalition.The confidence vote was held in the assembly following governor RV Arlekar’s directive asking the newly formed government to prove its majority on or before May 13.
With the victory in the House, the actor-turned politician has now formed the first coalition government led by a new entrant in Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian political era, breaking the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK.The DMK won 59 seats, while the AIADMK was reduced to 47. TVK, contesting its first-ever assembly election barely two years after its formation, emerged as the largest party with 108 seats in the 234-member House.
How Vijay secured the numbers
During the trust vote proceedings, Congress, CPM, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and a rebel faction of AIADMK extended support to the TVK government, helping CM Vijay comfortably win the floor test in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
- In favour of TVK government: 144 MLAs
- In favour AIADMK rebels: 25 MLAs
- Against: 22 MLAs
- Abstained: 5 MLAs
Vijay was sworn in as chief minister at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium on May 7, becoming the first non-DMK and non-AIADMK chief minister in Tamil Nadu since 1967.
How CM Vijay reached there?
The 234-member assembly requires 118 seats for a majority. Although TVK won 108 seats, the party’s effective strength came down to 107 after Vijay vacated one of the two seats he had won following his elevation as chief minister.That left the party 11 seats short of the majority mark.Congress, which won five seats, was the first to extend support to TVK, ending its long-standing alliance with DMK. The CPI and CPM, with two seats each, also announced support for Vijay.The breakthrough came after the VCK and IUML, both of which had initially stayed away from the alliance, eventually agreed to support the TVK-led government following days of negotiations.TVK also received support from Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) MLA S Kamaraj. The coalition’s strength eventually rose to 121 seats, allowing Vijay to comfortably prove his majority in the assembly.
AIADMK vs AIADMK twist before floor test
The political drama intensified just a day before the trust vote when Vijay personally visited senior AIADMK rebel leader C Ve Shanmugam at his residence in Chennai, triggering speculation that a section of the AIADMK was preparing to back the new government.Around 30 AIADMK MLAs believed to be part of the rebel camp has openly questioned party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami’s leadership after the party’s poor electoral performance.The AIADMK won only 47 of the 164 seats it contested. Shanmugam accused Palaniswami of exploring an arrangement with the DMK to prevent Vijay from forming the government.“In the recently concluded election, we faced defeat. Not only in the recently concluded election, but also in the previous election, we suffered defeat. We asked our General Secretary to convene a General Council meeting to discuss the reasons behind these electoral defeats and to take further action in the interest and development of the party,” he said.“Some people proposed that we, as the AIADMK legislative party, should form a government with the support of the DMK. This proposal goes against the founding principles of our party because the AIADMK was founded to uproot the DMK, which we consider an evil force in Tamil Nadu,” he added.The allegation has become politically significant because AIADMK was founded as the principal rival to the DMK, making any possible understanding between the two parties highly controversial within the party ranks.A rebel faction led by former ministers SP Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam publicly backed Vijay’s government and elected Velumani as their legislature party leader. Shanmugam said supporting Vijay was necessary to revive the “Amma rule” associated with former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.“He (Palaniswami) wanted to form a government with the support of DMK,” Shanmugam alleged, further stating that “we founded this party against the DMK. For 53 years, our politics was against it. Given this, a proposal suggesting an AIADMK government with DMK support was rejected….If we formed such an alliance, AIADMK would not exist.”“The people’s mandate is not for TVK, it is for chief minister Vijay,” he added. The rebel camp’s language fuelled speculation that sections of the AIADMK see Vijay as the political successor to the emotional mass politics once represented by MGR and Jayalalithaa.
A whip binding all party MLAs
The AIADMK leadership, meanwhile, attempted to contain the rebellion by issuing a whip ahead of the floor test. Party Rajya Sabha MP IS Inbadurai warned that any MLA violating the official whip could face disqualification under the anti-defection law.Sharing a post on X, Inbadurai said the whip issued under AIADMK General Secretary and Legislative Party Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami would be binding on all party MLAs.The DMK however, denied reports of any post-poll understanding with the AIADMK and maintained that it would sit in the opposition. Political observers believe the DMK may benefit from the ongoing AIADMK infighting.Earlier this week, Vijay delivered his maiden speech in the assembly and said the House should function as both the “heart and the brain” of democracy. He said every party, regardless of its strength, deserved equal respect inside the Assembly.“Here, everyone is equal. Even parties represented by a single member in this House must have their views valued equally alongside those expressed by the members of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, who hold a larger mandate,” Vijay said.“Good suggestions must be accepted, and unsuitable ones rejected. This assembly must function as both the heart and the brain of democracy,” he added.
