Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay faces a test in the state assembly today to prove his party TVK’s majority. This development comes days after the party won 108 seats in the Assembly elections, which is less than 118 seats. The outcome of the vote of confidence will determine his party’s political future in the state.
With the support of smaller parties like the Viduthalai Chiruthigal Katchi (VCK) and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and more significant parties like the Congress, Vijay appears to be on track to prove a majority. Follow live updates here.
However, a new entrant into this dynamic emerged on Tuesday, as a select few AIADMK MPs pledged their support for Vijay’s party, further mounting speculation about how much support TVK will get. Amid the uproar over the new AIADMK faction supporting Vijay, one of the MLAs has warned against the anti-defection law.
Here are the top 5 updates of what to expect in Tamil Nadu today:
Big test for Vijay today: The TVK government led by C Joseph Vijay faces a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on Sunday, May 10, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to prove a TVK majority.
How the numbers stack up: Vijay’s TVK won 108 seats in the May 4 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, in a stunning showing in the party’s first contest. However, he failed to achieve a majority of 118 votes, and thus began the struggle to form a majority. Small parties like CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML supported TVK with two seats each, while Congress also supported it with five seats, bringing the number to 121.
Vijay leaves Tiruchirappalli (East) seat: Since Vijay won two seats, Tiruchirappalli (East) and Perambur, he was tasked with dropping one of them, and he has decided to drop the former. The development reduced the number of TVK to 107.
Where does TVK’s credit stand now? With only Vijay retaining the Perambur seat, and the Madras High Court barring MLA-elect Srinivasa Sethupathi from participating in the floor test today, TVK’s seat tally has come down from 108. Additionally, now that TVK legislator JCD Prabhakar has been elected president, he also cannot vote in the floor test, thus taking the party’s effective tally in the floor test to 105. However, the party needs to prove majority with a minimum of 117 seats.
AIADMK MP Warning: In a surprising turn of events, a faction led by senior leader C V Shanmugam elected SP Velumani as AIADMK leader in the legislative assembly and former state minister C Vijayabhaskar as whip, after which Shanmugam said 21 of the party’s MPs would support TVK. However, Rajya Sabha MP IS Inbadurai warned that MLAs who act against the official whip will face disqualification under the anti-defection law.
