Thalapathy Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu chief minister, vows new beginning for the state

CChief joseph Vijay was sworn in as Tamil Nadu chief government minister at madras’s Jawaharlal jawaharlal nehru bowl on Sunday amid rapturous applause from thousands of fans and supporters, as his fledgling political outfit formally took power in the state.“It is a fresh, new beginning. A new era of real, secular, social justice starts...,” Vijay said in a speech marked by dramatic flourish after the oath-taking ceremony. He also made three announcements — providing 200 units of free electricity, constituting a task force for women’s safety and setting up another to tackle the drug menace.Vijay was joined at the ceremony by family members, friends, senior police and administrative officials, and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose party last week extended support through its five MLAs in the state.Soon after he took oath, the actor-turned-politician travelled to his office in the state secretariat at Fort St George.Prime Minister Narendra Modi later congratulated Vijay over a phone call.Nine MLAs from Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) took oath as ministers, according to a press release — party general secretary N Anand, general secretary (election management) Aadhav Arjuna, general secretary (police and propaganda) KG Arunraj, chief coordinator K A Sengottaiyan, treasurer P Venkataramanan, joint secretary R Nirmalkumar, deputy general secretary Rajmohan, Sivaganga district secretary TK Prabhu and Sivagasi MLA S Keerthana.The ceremony capped days of political uncertainty in Tamil Nadu after the TVK emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats but fell short of the 118-seat majority mark in the 234-member assembly.Dressed in a black suit and white shirt, the 51-year-old Tamil cinema star began taking oath at 10.17am, turning the otherwise formal exercise into a theatrical spectacle as supporters cheered almost every line.As he began the oath with “C Joseph Vijay ennum naan... (I, C Joseph Vijay),” the 2,500 people inside the stadium erupted in applause.Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar administered the oath after appointing Vijay chief minister-designate on Saturday evening.Vijay briefly went off script by ending the oath with a clenched fist gesture, prompting the governor to ask him to read out the official text from the document provided to him.“I am not a messiah or angel. I will not deceive you all by making false promises. I am also an ordinary man like you. I too know the value of poverty and hunger,” Vijay said in his 12-minute address.“The only goal is people’s welfare,” he added.Vowing transparent governance, Vijay said he would never meet anyone “secretly” or operate behind “closed doors”.As part of his immediate plans, Vijay claimed that the previous regime had left behind a debt of over ₹10 trillion and had left an “empty treasury”.“Only in such a situation have we taken this responsibility into our hands. Only when we assess the financial conditions, I feel I should release a white paper for you all,” he said.He also thanked Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, whom he called “my brother”, along with the the leaders of the Left parties, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Kackhi (VCK), and the Indian Union Muslim League, whose support will help the TVK cross the majority mark.Gandhi, in a post on social media, said: “Tamil Nadu has chosen. A new generation. A new voice. A new imagination. My good wishes to Vijay — may he fulfill the hopes of the people of Tamil Nadu.”The TVK now has the support of 120 MLAs in the 234-member assembly. The VCK and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), with two lawmakers each, extended “unconditional support” on Saturday, after the Congress (five MLAs), the Communist Party of India (two) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (two) backed the party earlier.Vijay’s rookie outfit shattered Tamil Nadu’s five-decade Dravidian duopoly to emerge as the single-largest party in the assembly elections last Monday. In the days that followed, intense government formation negotiations briefly fuelled speculation that the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could join hands.Those discussions ended on Saturday.Vijay contested from Trichy East and Perambur and won both seats. His resignation from Trichy East reduces the TVK’s effective strength in the assembly to 107.Later, Vijay posed for a group photograph with the governor and his council of ministers, and also took a selfie with supporters.