Chennai: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader C. Joseph Vijay will take oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Sunday, alongside nine ministers, after securing the backing of 120 MLAs—surpassing the 118-seat majority in the 234-member Assembly.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has approved Vijay's list of ministers: N. Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, Dr K.G. Arunraj, K.A. Sengottaiyan, P. Venkataramanan, R. Nirmalkumar, Rajmohan, Dr T.K. Prabhu, and S. Keerthana.
The ceremony will unfold at Chennai's Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, attended by national and regional leaders, including Congress MP and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi, who arrived in the city this morning.
Vijay's rise follows a hung Assembly verdict, with TVK winning 108 seats as the largest single party. Support from Congress, CPI, CPI-M, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) propelled the alliance to 120 seats, breaking the deadlock.
After submitting support letters to the Governor, Vijay was invited to form the government and must prove majority in the Assembly by May 13. This shift marks a historic break from Tamil Nadu's six-decade Dravidian dominance.
(Inputs from IANS)