Vijay is no stranger to thrillers and the first week’s impact on the box office. As expected, the actor-turned-politician’s first week as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has been nothing short of exciting.
After being sworn in on May 10, and comfortably winning the successful vote of confidence, Prime Minister Joseph Vijay celebrated his first appearance in office with a blitz on good policy, a viral controversy, a quick reversal, and a sub-plot that fractured the party. We’ll come to the subplot later.
First day: Three orders before sunset
Immediately after Vijay was sworn in at Chennai’s Nehru Indoor Stadium before a raucous crowd, and after his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) party won 108 seats in the April 23 elections — enough, along with the Congress and its Left allies, to form a coalition government — he signed his first three orders.
- Free electricity has been doubled from 100 to 200 units for eligible domestic consumers.
- A new all-women security force, under the name ‘Singa Pen Sirappu Athiradi Padai’, has been set up across the state.
- 65 units of the anti-narcotics force were sent to each district, which was the focus of his election promise of a “drug-free Tamil Nadu”.
There has been criticism of how these forces are doing anything different other than becoming new names for existing operations, and whether the state has enough money since Vijay spoke of $10 lakh crore debts he inherited from MK Stalin’s DMK regime.
TASMAC campaign, promoting drinking age
Two days later, CM Vijay signed an executive order directing the closure of 717 liquor outlets in TASMAC within a two-week time limit. These were all operating within 500 meters of places of worship, educational institutions or bus stops. Consequently, the total number of outlets in the state will decrease from 4,765 to 4,048.
The government has also strengthened the legal drinking age of 21, and has instructed all remaining TASMAC staff to strictly enforce it, with mandatory verification of identity – Aadhaar cards or driving licenses – where the buyer’s age is in doubt.
Reducing operating hours is also being discussed, and the current closing time will likely be moved from 10pm to 8pm. The decision was welcomed by women’s groups and social organizations who have campaigned for such restrictions for years.
Here too, there is a stark financial reality beneath this applause. The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited or TASMAC, which runs these shops, has set up more than that $48,000 crore of state revenue in 2025 alone.
Superstitions of the star, and the U-shaped bend
The same day brought an embarrassing development as well. The government has formalized the appointment of astrologer Ricky Radhan Pandit Vetrivel – the man who publicly predicted Vijay’s political rise – as Officer on Special (Political) Duty to the Prime Minister. The backlash came from opposition parties, rationalist groups and even allies of the TVK coalition. And then on the floor of the assembly itself.
A petition was also filed in the Madras High Court challenging the appointment on the grounds of lack of transparent recruitment process and violation of constitutional provisions relating to equality in public office.
Less than 24 hours after issuing the order, the government withdrew it. In the council, Vijay did not address the matter directly.
Instead, he delivered the statement: “This government will operate at the speed of the horse and will not indulge in horse-trading.”
But the horse trafficking charge came on May 13.
The “rebellious” subplot.
The government’s floor test produced a result that went further than simply confirming Vijay’s majority.
Against the expected number of about 120 votes, the TVK government won with a majority of 144 votes.
Because 25 AIADMK MLAs, led by former ministers SP Velumani and CV Shanmugam, defied the party whip and voted for TVK. The rebels said the whip itself was illegal, as it had not been ratified by the party’s legislative meeting. They said Vijay has the people’s mandate and deserves support.
This means that the AIADMK – now a distant third in the state, in alliance with the ruling BJP at the Centre – is suffering another implosion since the death of party leader J Jayalalithaa in 2016.
The AIADMK’s official leader, general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS), who left with only 22 loyalists, filed disqualification petitions against the dissidents the same afternoon. He accused them of being greedy for ministerial positions.
The rebel faction, in turn, announced that it would submit a resolution demanding the resignation of the EPS from its positions after it lost confidence in most of the MLAs. The battle between the two AIADMK factions may head to court, while the speaker, a TVK MLA, has a key say on whether the anti-defection law applies immediately or not.
The DMK, led by opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, staged a strike before the vote, meaning TVK is sailing smoothly. Vijay still doesn’t have numbers of his own, but he has more than enough allies at the moment.
This was only week 1 anyway.
