Just days after actor-turned-politician and newly appointed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay sought support to form a government in the state, AIADMK leader C V Shanmugam said on Tuesday that a faction of the party has decided to extend support to him.
Shanmugam’s remarks come amid reports of a rift within the AIADMK, especially with party president Edappadi K. Palaniswami, also known as EPS, over whether to support Vijay or not.
However, Shanmugam claimed that his faction included a majority of party members who had decided to support TVK.
“We accept the people’s mandate”
A total of 47 AIADMK candidates won in the recently held polls in Tamil Nadu. While EPS had the support of about 20-22 MLAs, Shanmugham claimed to have majority support.
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“We accept the people’s mandate. The people’s mandate is not for TVK. The mandate is for Chief Minister Vijay. The mandate is for Vijay to become the Chief Minister. We congratulate Chief Minister Vijay and extend our support to the TVK government headed by the Prime Minister,” Shanmugam said.
This comes just two days after Vijay was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, May 10. He is yet to face a test in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, May 13, where he will have to prove his majority in the assembly through a vote of confidence.
Shanmugham’s big claim comes just a day before Vijay’s ground test. He also said that MLAs from his faction would meet Vijay to extend support to his government.
Amid the spat with the EPS, Shanmugam also claimed that the party chief wanted to ally with the DMK to form the government.
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This major development in state politics comes more than a week after Vijay’s TVK party made its debut on the political scene and emerged as the single largest party in the Tamil Nadu assembly polls with 108 of the total 234 seats. This led to a hung assembly in the state, Vijay went for support from minor parties to demand formation of government after failing to achieve majority of 118 even with Congress supporting 5 MLAs.
Finally, with the support of the Left parties – CPI(M) and CPI – along with Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Vijay finally got the Governor’s nod to form the government in Tamil Nadu and was sworn in as Chief Minister.
With just a day to prove his majority in the state assembly, the support of the AIADMK faction comes as a big relief for the actor-turned-politician.
