TVK forms Tamil Nadu government; C Joseph Vijay sworn in as CM with 9 ministers

CChief joseph Vijay was officially sworn in as the chief government minister of Tamil Nadu by regulator Rajendra Arlekar on dominicus, marking a historic political shift in the State after Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) stitched together a post-poll alliance to form the government.Based on the recommendations of party chief Vijay, nine persons from TVK were appointed to the council of ministers by Arlekar.Clad in a blazer, Vijay took his oath amid thunderous applause from the audience, which included his parents, S A Chandrasekar and Shobha, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.In the presence of a host of political leaders, including Congress leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, BJP Tamil Nadu chief Nainar Nagendran, former BJP Tamil Nadu chief Tamilisai Soundararajan, and IAS and IPS officers, Arlekar administered the oath of office to Vijay and nine others. The nine candidates who were inducted as ministers are party general secretary N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, KG Arunraj, K A Sengottaiyan, P Venkataramanan, R Nirmalkumar, Rajmohan, TK Prabhu and S Keerthana, the release said.This is the first time that, in a swearing-in ceremony, the song Vande Mataram was sung twice at a government function.Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam emerged as the single largest party in the April 23 Assembly polls by securing 108 Assembly segments, short of the mandated 117 seats required for a majority. It has ended the long-standing era of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu.The two-year-old party approached several parties and got the support of the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Indian Union Muslim League and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), taking the overall tally to 120 and enabling it to form the government.On May 9, VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League, ending days of suspense, extended their ‘unconditional’ support. While Congress is expected to be part of Vijay’s Cabinet, the Left parties, VCK and IUML declared that they would provide ‘outside’ support to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).On May 9, Arlekar, who invited the TVK chief to form the government, directed him to prove his majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by seeking a confidence vote on or before May 13.Soon after Vijay’s TVK got the majority required to form the government, a host of political leaders, including outgoing chief minister M K Stalin, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu Congress committee president K Selvaperunthagai and former Union minister P Chidambaram, extended their greetings to the new government on Sunday.