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Vijay Tamil Nadu floor test: On Tuesday, a group of MLAs announced a revolt against party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, accusing him of seeking an alliance with archrival DMK, and announced support for the Vijay-led government ahead of the floor test on Wednesday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay speaks at the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, in Chennai on Tuesday. (@TNDIPRNEWS X/ANI Photo)(TN DIPR)Vijay Tamil Nadu floor test: Actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay finally took oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu on 10 May with the support of allies.
Vijay’s party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly. However, the numbers were not enough for Vijay to form the government on his own. The TVK secured support from the Congress and several smaller parties to cross the majority mark of 118 in the House. However, Vijay must prove his majority on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly before 13 May, Wednesday.
Congress party, which has extended support to TVK, is a former ally of the DMK. The party has five MLAs in the 234-member House. Vijay also received support from the two Left parties, the VCK and the IUML, bringing the total past 118 – the majority mark.
How are the numbers stacked up for Vijay in the assembly?
As things stand, TVK has 107 seats (after Vijay's resignation from Tiruchirappali East) in the assembly and the support of 13 MLAs of Congress, VCK, IUML and the Left parties.
On 12 May, a day before the floor test, the Madras High Court restrained TVK MLA Srinivasa Sethupathi from participating in the floor test as an MLA. Sethipathi defeated DMK veteran and former minister Periyakaruppan by one vote in the Tiruppattur seat in the recently held elections. Periyakaruppan had approached the court.
This reduced Vijay’s numbers by one. So, Vijay’s TVK has 119 MLAs for now. Though the party has approached the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court decision. The plea, which has been filed through Advocates Dixita Gohil, Pranjal Agarwal, Rupali Samuel and Yash S Vijay, will be heard tomorrow, 13 May, the day floor test has to take place, unless there is a stay from the court.
The AIADMK twist
That’s not it. There is an AIADMK twist too. The party founded by MG Ramachandran is staring at a split.
On 12 May, a group of MLAs announced a revolt against party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, accusing him of seeking an alliance with archrival DMK, and announced support for the Vijay-led government ahead of the floor test on Wednesday.
About 30 MLAs, led by senior leaders SP Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam, are believed to be in the rebel camp that has questioned Palaniswami's leadership following the party's debacle in the 23 April assembly polls, where it won only 47 out of the 164 seats it contested.
For now, Vijay’s trust vote in Tamil Nadu looks less like a test of the TVK government and more like a defining trial for the AIADMK.
The numbers do matter
The numbers do matter. It remains to be seen how many rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLAs vote in favour of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam during the trust vote on May 13 — or whether they will vote at all. In a trust vote, every abstention and every act of rebellion carries weight, especially for C Joseph Vijay, who has created history of sorts by disrupting the six-decade-long dominance of the DMK-AIADMK duopoly and emerging as the single-largest political force in Tamil Nadu.
And if the AIADMK MLAs cross over, as is widely being predicted, or even abstain from voting, the symbolism would be unmistakable: a party founded by actor-politician M G Ramachandran would effectively give way to another party founded decades later by another actor, C Joseph Vijay.
The absence of MLAs during the trust vote would also work to the TVK's advantage, as the crucial majority mark would depend on the number of MLAs present in the House.
(With agency inputs)
About the Author
Gulam Jeelani
Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.<br><br> Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.<br><br> Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.<br><br> Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.<br><br> Jeelani is a Bachelor's in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.
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