CHENNAI, May 10: Cheered and heralded by a sea of delirious supporters, screen superstar Chandrasekaran Joseph Vijay took oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday with a pledge that “a new era of real, secular, social justice starts now.”
The ascent of Vijay to the top job marks a significant realignment and a historic political shift in the state after his TVK emerged as the single largest party in the recent Assembly elections, shattering the decades-long dominance of the DMK and AIADMK in the state.
The swearing-in ceremony, conducted by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, was attended by senior leaders, including Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and family and friends of Vijay.
Others who took the oath as ministers in Vijay’s cabinet included N. Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, K.A. Sengottaiyan, K.G. Arunraaj, P. Venkataramanan, C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, A. Rajmohan, S. Keerthana, and K.T. Prabhu.
“It is a fresh, new beginning. A new era of real, secular, social justice starts…,” Vijay paused, looked down, pointed at his wrist watch and added with a dramatic flourish: “Now!” This statement was greeted with thunderous applause, cheers and whistles.
Ahead of his speech, he also signed three orders—200 units of free electricity, a task force for women’s safety and a task force to tackle the drug menace.
The oath-taking ceremony, reflecting the atmosphere across the city of hard-won victory and high expectations, symbolised the arrival of a new political era, centred around Vijay’s mass appeal, youth outreach and anti-establishment approach.
Although TVK on its own did not secure the majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, Vijay managed to get support from the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPI (M) and IUML to gather 120 MLAs and cross the 118 majority mark to form the government, an act that is seen as a demonstration of his political adaptability beyond his image of a popular actor.
It would be tempting to frame the sound defeat of DMK and its arch-rival AIADMK as the end of Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu, but that is not so. TVK also draws inspiration from old Dravidian leaders and has sold itself as a protector of Tamil pride. The opening of the swearing-in ceremony included a Tamil nationalist song after Vande Mataram and the National Anthem.
Vijay’s emergence in one of the most influential states in the South is expected to reshape opposition politics at the national level and alter alliance calculations ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. (PTI)
