CHENNAI, MAY 9 (PTI): TVK founder-chief Chandrasekar Joseph Vijay was appointed as Chief Minister on Saturday by the Governor and will be sworn in on May 10, after his party clinched key support to cross the magic 118 majority mark in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, ending days of uncertainty over government formation in the southern state.
A top-rated actor-politician, the 51-year-old Vijay will be sworn in as the CM at the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here at 10 AM on Sunday, the Lok Bhavan said.
Capping days of hectic parleying to shore up numbers to usher in the first non-DMK, non-AIADMK government in nearly 70 years, Vijay finally managed to secure the support of four MLAs of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Saturday. Later, he headed to the Lok Bhavan for his fourth meeting with Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in as many days to discuss government formation, before the latter appointed Vijay as CM and invited him to form ministry.
TVK workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets and gathered in large numbers in party office to celebrate.
The VCK and IUML extended “unconditional support,” to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. DMK’s allies including the VCK have made it clear that they continue to be part of the Dravidian party led alliance.
Quickly after the VCK and IUML gave to TVK, letters of support addressed to the governor, Vijay went to the Lok Bhavan along with leaders from ally Congress, and supporting parties including the Left and VCK handed over the letters to Arlekar.
Parties including VCK will not be part of the government and they offer “outside support”.
