Cheered on by his supporters, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) leader C Joseph Vijay took oath as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister on Sunday with the pledge that “a new era of real, secular social justice starts now”.
While Vijay ushered in the first non-DMK and non-AIADMK government in almost six decades, taking three decisions in his first action as CM, the DMK elected Udhayanidhi Stalin as the Leader of the Opposition. For the first time, the DMK and the AIADMK will sit together in the Assembly, sources said.
Governor Rajendra Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay and nine Cabinet members — Aadhav Arjuna, N “Bussy” Anand, R Nirmal Kumar, K G Arun Raj, K A Sengottaiyan, Dr T K Prabhu, S Keerthana, P Venkataraman, and Rajmohan Arumugam — at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here.
The event turned into a movie-style spectacle as the actor-turned-politician went off script immediately after the Governor began administering the oath to him. “I, C Joseph Vijay, will stay true to the legally established Constitution of India … as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, I will work honestly and dedicatedly to fulfil my responsibilities. I will adhere to the rule of law, work with honesty, remove hate, and work honestly for all sections of the people. This I swear on God and take the oath,” he said, raising his right hand and clenching his fist when invoking God. After Arlekar intervened and asked him to read out the official oath from the paper provided to him, Vijay sought some clarification from the Governor before complying with his direction.
Later, in his first speech as CM, Vijay delivered the clearest political message of his young administration. “Nobody should even think that now that we have come to power, we can go on a rampage. Do not even keep such ideas in mind. Clear it off. There will be only one power centre, that is me,” he said as the crowd roared. For those who could not be present at the stadium, the Greater Chennai Corporation arranged live screenings of the swearing-in ceremony on LED screens at over 20 locations across Chennai.
It was an unusual first day for the CM amid part political transition, part mass spectacle, and part emotional culmination of a decades-long film relationship between him and his audience. And Vijay attempted to present himself as a leader inheriting a damaged state and asking for time to rebuild it. “The state has been left behind in a bad shape,” he said, promising a white paper on the state’s finances during the previous DMK government. “I will release the white paper first. The previous government has left us with a debt of Rs 10 lakh crore.”
Vijay repeatedly framed his victory as an emotional debt to the people of Tamil Nadu rather than merely an electoral triumph. “I entered politics to repay the debt of gratitude I owe to you,” he told the crowd at the stadium. He also attempted to draw a sharp distinction between his administration and the one it replaced, promising “transparent governance.” His government would not “loot people’s money”, Vijay said, and vowed not to make “false promises”. At the same time, he signalled continuity with the state’s welfare-heavy political culture and also invoked social justice. “This is a new beginning. A new era of real, secular social justice starts now,” he declared, dramatically pointing to his watch.
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The CM’s speech drew from personal memory and sought to connect him to the people of the state. He spoke of growing up as the son of an assistant director, knowing “poverty and hunger” and not coming from a “royal lineage”. He reminded the crowd that he had faced humiliation and hardship before entering cinema. “I am like your son, your brother. You gave me a place in your hearts,” he said.
Instead of his trademark white shirt and beige trousers, Vijay wore a white shirt, dark trousers, and a blazer to the ceremony. With most of his Cabinet colleagues also wearing shirts and trousers, the dress code of the TVK Cabinet seemed to be a departure from the usual, as white dhoti and white shirt have largely been the norm for male politicians in Tamil Nadu politics.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by, among others, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, who flew in from Delhi, Vijay’s parents S A Chandrasekhar and Shobha, and actor Trisha. Later in the day, as congratulatory messages poured in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the CM spoke on the telephone, and the PM congratulated him, sources said.
First decisions as CM
On his first day in office, Vijay quickly moved to give his new government both an administrative signature and a political vocabulary, signing orders for 200 units of free electricity for domestic consumers using up to 500 units in a two-month billing cycle, a Singapore-inspired women’s rapid action force for public safety, and narcotics prevention units across all municipal corporations and districts. It was a carefully choreographed opening: welfare, women’s safety, anti-drug enforcement, law and order, a visit to a Periyar memorial, and a Cabinet that looks nothing like a classical ministry of a Dravidian party.
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The first file on free electricity was an unmistakable signal that Vijay’s government would not abandon Tamil Nadu’s welfare grammar. The second, a special women’s rapid action force, framed his administration around urban safety and visible policing. The third, creating units of the Narcotics Prevention Wing across the state, placed law enforcement and youth protection at the heart of his agenda. Later, Vijay chaired a review meeting at the secretariat on the law-and-order situation, underlining that he intends to project himself as an active administrator from Day One.
The day, however, was not just about files. Vijay called on Pro-tem Speaker M V Karuppaiah and visited the Periyar Thidal in Chennai’s Vepery neighbourhood, where he met Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani, honoured him with a golden shawl and bouquet, and paid floral tributes at the memorial. For a leader who is personally a believer but has repeatedly invoked Periyar as a guiding light, the visit was symbolically loaded. It was about Vijay placing himself inside the rationalist-social justice tradition even as he tries to create a new political idiom. He also submitted his resignation as MLA from Tiruchirappalli East, a procedural move after assuming office.
All attention will now shift to Vijay having to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly by May 13.
