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Heralding a major change and scripting a new chapter in Tamil Nadu politics long dominated by the bipolar regime, the fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Founder and actor-politician C Joseph Vijay was on May 10 sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister, heading the first ever non Dravidian dispensation in this Dravidian heartland–ruled alternatively by the two majors DMK and the AIADMK-after ending their nearly 60 yearlong duopoly with a stunning show at the hustings.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of Office and secrecy to Vijay along with nine members of his first Cabinet, which included a woman, at an impressive ceremony held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Multi-purpose Indoor stadium on a pleasant Sunday morning.
After Vijay, his nine Cabinet colleagues–all top functionaries of the ruling TVK–approved by the Governor on the recommendations of the TVK Founder, also took oath. They were TVK General Secretaries N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna and, K A Sengottaiyan, who is also a former AIADMK Minister, Dr. K G Arunraj, P Venkataramanan, R Nirmal Kumar, Rajmohan, Dr. T K Prabhu and S Keerthana.
All of them took their oath in Tamil and in the name of God.
After Chief Secretary M Sasikumar invited the Governor to administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new Cabinet, Vijay, clad in black pant and white full sleeves with a black blazer, started taking oath with the words… “I C Joseph Vijay,” when he was greeted with thundering applause.
Vijay was the first to take the oath and was followed by Anand, Aadhav Arjuna and others.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who was instrumental in Vijay mustering adequate numbers to form the government after he fell short by 11 MLAs, was seen seated next to Vijay on the dais.
Vijay in his first stint in electoral politics within two years of floating his own outfit, made a stunning entry winning 108 seats, with the actor-turned-politician himself winning from two seats. As the TVK technically has 107 MLAs, he fell short of majority by 11 members and after reaching out to some of the key DMK allies, he mobilized the requisite numbers in which Rahul Gandhi was said to have played a key role. Vijay met Governor R V Arlekar on Saturday evening for the fourth time along with leaders of supporting parties, handed over their letters of support and staked his claim to form the government ending the week long political deadlock, following which he was invited by the Governor, leading to coronation of the first Vijay Sarkar today morning.
After a week-long drama that was marked by multiple developments the impasse ended when Vijay finally got unconditional support from the Congress, which broke ranks with the DMK and allied with TVK and pledged the support of its five MLAs, while CPI, CPI-M, VCK and IUML, with two MLAs each, offered outside support and decided to stay within the DMK alliance, by not participating in the government.
With Congress too set to join the government, Tamil Nadu would be having its first ever coalition government in its political history.
Apart from Vijay’s parents, father S A Chandrasekar and mother Shobha Chandrasekar, leaders of various political parties including those from who pledged their support like CPI, CPI-M, VCK and IUML, Opposition leaders, people from various walks of life, including from the Tamil film fraternity, judiciary and the police department, were present at the swearing in event, which began with the recital of Vande Mataram, National Anthem and Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu (invoking the blessings of Mother Tamil) after which Vijay and others were administered the oath.
A large number of TVK supporters lined up on both sides of the roads leading the venue and enthusiastically greeted Vijay.
The swearing in ceremony was also beamed live in various locations near the venue by installing giant LCD screens for the benefit of the public, who could not make it to the venue due to space constraints.
Police have made elaborate security arrangements with almost all top officials including Tamil Nadu DGP and Head of Police Force Sandeep Rai Rathore, Greater Chennai City Police Commissioner Abhin Dinesh Modak and senior officials were present.
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