GUWAHATI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay on Wednesday, May 13, won the confidence motion in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, securing the support of 144 MLAs, well above the majority mark of 118.
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The floor test took place amid empty Opposition benches after legislators from the DMK and DMDK staged a walkout. Meanwhile, four PMK MLAs and one BJP MLA abstained from voting during the trust vote proceedings.
Other parties including the IUML, VCK, CPI, CPI(M), and Congress extended support to Vijay’s TVK government, taking the party’s tally to the required majority mark of 117.
The numbers further improved for the ruling side after divisions within the AIADMK surfaced in the Assembly. While AIADMK chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami opposed the confidence motion and maintained that all 47 AIADMK MLAs would vote against the government, a rival faction led by S. P. Velumani supported Vijay during the voting process.
Velumani had earlier announced that 21 AIADMK legislators would back the actor-turned-politician’s government during the trust vote.
During the Assembly session, Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin reportedly criticised the newly formed government and claimed that people were already questioning its stability and regretting their electoral choice.
As per Assembly rules, Vijay was required to prove his majority after taking oath as Chief Minister. With Vijay vacating the Tiruchirappalli (East) constituency and Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar not eligible to vote, the TVK’s effective tally stood at 105 before support from allies and cross-voting legislators.
Reacting after the successful floor test, Chief Minister Vijay reportedly said that his government would remain “secular” in governance.
He also assured that all welfare schemes introduced by previous governments would continue under the new administration.