Joseph Vijay takes oath as Tamil Nadu CM today after days of tense battle for majority support

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C Joseph Vijay is all set to take oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister today, 10 May crowning his party's debut performance in assembly polls. This after days of uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu ended on 9 May Saturday with TVK clinching key support to cross the magic 118 majority mark in the 234-member Assembly.

A top-rated actor-politician, the 51-year-old Vijay will be sworn in as the CM at the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here at 10 AM today.

Tamil Nadu’s acting Governor Rajendra Arlekar on Saturday appointed Joseph Vijay as the new Chief Minister of the state but also asked him to prove his majority in the state assembly before May 13.

Vijay met the Governor on Saturday evening, fourth time in last three days, and gave him letters of support from Congress, CPI, Communist Party of India (Marxist), VCK and IUML.

The TVK, which created record by winning 108 seats in its debut assembly polls, now has support of 120 MLAs in the 234-member assembly. The majority mark in the assembly is 118. Vijay won from two seats in the assembly polls and will resign from one seat.

"The Governor of Tamil Nadu has appointed Thiru C. Joseph Vijay as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and invited him to form the Ministry. The Governor has directed the Chief Minister designate to seek the vote of confidence of the Assembly on or before May 13, 2026. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Nehru Stadium, Chennai on 10th May 2026 at 10 am," the release from Lok Bhavan said.

The suspense, however, ended when VCK, which has two seats, finally extended support after keeping the TVK on tenterhooks and the political circles abuzz over its stand over the last two days.

VCK, a long-time ally of the Left parties that had extended its support to Vijay on Friday, had earlier announced its decision would be in sync with their stand.

Shortly after VCK's decision to back Vijay, another DMK ally, the IUML also extended support to TVK. IUML has two MLAs.

The drama also witnessed the return of "resort politics" as the five Congress MLAs camped in Hyderabad and TVK legislators in a hotel in Mamallapuram. While the AIADMK MLAs have returned to Chennai from Puducherry, its chief Edappadi K Palaniswami has greeted the “party that is set to form the government.”

The AMMK accused the TVK of allegedly using a "forged" support letter from its lone MLA to stake claim for government formation and also alleged horse-trading attempt and the party has lodged a police complaint.

The TVK dismissed the allegations as "false news," releasing a counter-video purportedly showing MLA Kamaraj signing the "support letter" voluntarily.

With the party formed two years ago, Vijay pitched himself as an alternative to traditional Dravidian parties. Vijay has called Periyar his ideological leader, while noting that the party will not adopt his atheism, unlike the DMK. He also referred to CN Annadurai, K Kamaraj and Babasaheb BR Ambedkar as the party's leaders for the idea of social justice.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will attend the swearing-in today. The Congress has broken ties with DMK but the others have said they continue in the Dravidian-party lead alliance.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Saturday extended warm greetings to the Tamil Nadu CM-designate and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leader Vijay, saying that the State expects a change and new hope.

(With agency inputs)