Chennai, 10 May (H.S.): Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder C. Joseph Vijay on Sunday assumed office as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, scripting a dramatic political transformation in the State and ending nearly six decades of uninterrupted dominance by the DMK and AIADMK.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay at a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai at 10 a.m., in the presence of top national leaders, alliance partners, film personalities, and thousands of enthusiastic supporters who gathered to witness the historic occasion.

Along with Vijay, nine ministers were sworn into the new Cabinet, formally marking the beginning of the first non-Dravidian-led government in Tamil Nadu since 1967. The ceremony witnessed massive celebrations both inside and outside the venue, with TVK workers hailing the event as the beginning of a “new political chapter” in the State.

The TVK-led alliance crossed the majority mark in the 234-member Assembly after securing the backing of 120 MLAs, comfortably above the required figure of 118. Though TVK emerged as the single largest party in the recently concluded Assembly elections, the party initially fell short of forming the government on its own, triggering intense post-poll negotiations over the last several days.

The political uncertainty came to an end on Saturday evening after the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) extended support to Vijay’s formation. Earlier, the Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), and Communist Party of India (Marxist) had also announced support for the TVK-led alliance.

Following the final round of support negotiations, Vijay met Governor Arlekar at Lok Bhavan on Saturday night and submitted letters of support from alliance partners. The Governor subsequently invited him to form the government and directed the new Chief Minister to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly on or before May 13.

Political analysts described Vijay’s rise to power as one of the most significant shifts in Tamil Nadu politics in recent decades, potentially reshaping the State’s long-standing Dravidian political order.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman