Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief C Joseph Vijay was elected as the party’s legislative leader by newly elected MLAs on Tuesday, a day after leading it to victory in his poll debut.
TVK defeated the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), winning 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, just short of the 118 required to form the government.
The party requires 10 more seats to form the government and would need support either from the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) or the AIADMK-led NDA to stake claim.
“We all met and exchanged our greetings with him. Later, he was unanimously elected as the legislative party leader.” J Kamatchi, who won from Pallavaram constituency, told reporters.
Vijay is likely to meet Tamil Nadu Governor in-charge Rajendra Arlekar at Lok Bhavan in Chennai on Wednesday.
Vijay’s meeting with the MLAs lasted over three hours at the party’s Panaiyur office , some 45 km from here. The newly elected MLAs were asked to stay in Chennai for the next two-three days in Chennai in order to take part in the swearing-in ceremony.
Meanwhile, in a social media post, Vijay, while responding to greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, ‘Thank you PMOIndia for your greetings. The wellbeing of our people remains our only goal’.
“Transcending politics, we shall focus on the State’s progress and the welfare of people of Tamil Nadu. We look forward to the Union government’s support in this endeavour,” TVK’s official social media account said on Tuesday.
Vijay also extended his gratitude to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for his greetings. “We shall remain committed to excellence in public service, and preserving the cultural ethos of our state which requires collective cooperation. Beyond politics, we shall prioritise for the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he wrote in another social media post.
TVK secured an impressive 108 seats defeating the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which managed to secure only 59 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections held on April 23.
The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes Congress, won five seats; the Indian Union Muslim League, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) won two seats each.The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), founded by actor-politician Vijaykanth, won one seat.
The AIADMK won 47 seats; its alliance partners won four and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam each bagged one seat.
