Vijay to become Chief Minister, submits letters of support from 120 MLAs to Governor; swearing-in ceremony to be held tomorrow

CHENNAI: Actor-turned-politician Vijay is set to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after staking a claim to form the government with the support of 120 MLAs. The TVK president submitted letters of support to Governor Rajendra Arlekar, who had earlier asked him to prove the backing of at least 118 legislators during their previous meetings.

Vijay’s support base includes 108 MLAs from TVK, five from Congress, two each from CPM, CPI and the Muslim League, and one from VCK. With the required numbers now secured, the Governor is expected to invite Vijay to form the government shortly. If invited, Vijay is likely to take oath as Chief Minister at 11 am tomorrow at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

After meeting the Governor, Vijay visited the offices of CPM, CPI, Muslim League and VCK leaders to personally thank them for extending support to his government.

The four-day uncertainty over government formation following the election results appears to have ended with Vijay successfully gathering the required majority support. After securing Congress's backing, he also won the support of the Left parties, the Muslim League and VCK. Both CPM and CPI announced unconditional support to Vijay but clarified that they would not join the cabinet. The Left parties said they decided to back Vijay in order to prevent the BJP, which faced a major defeat in Tamil Nadu, from using the Governor to subvert democracy. Meanwhile, there is still no clarity on whether Congress and the Muslim League will become part of the new ministry.