Chennai, May 9 (IANS) Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief C. Joseph Vijay was on Saturday officially invited by the Governor-in-charge Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to form the next government in Tamil Nadu after demonstrating majority support in the 234-member Assembly.

In a major political development that ended days of uncertainty following the fractured Assembly verdict, Vijay met the Governor at Lok Bhavan in Chennai and submitted a letter informing him of his election as the leader of the TVK Legislature Party.

He also handed over letters of support from the Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

Following the meeting, Raj Bhavan issued an official statement confirming that Governor Arlekar had appointed Vijay as the Chief Minister-designate of Tamil Nadu and invited him to form the Ministry.

The Governor also directed the TVK Chief to seek a vote of confidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on or before May 13.

Raj Bhavan also announced that the swearing-in ceremony would be held at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

The development came after Vijay successfully secured the support of 120 MLAs, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 118 required to form the government in the 234-member Assembly.

According to the final tally, the TVK-led formation has the support of 107 TVK MLAs, five Congress legislators, and two MLAs each from the CPI, CPI(M), VCK, and IUML.

Tamil Nadu went to polls for all 234 Assembly constituencies in a single phase on April 23.

The election witnessed an intense four-cornered contest involving the DMK, the AIADMK alliance, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), and the newly launched TVK led by actor-turned-politician Vijay.

The results, declared on May 4, saw TVK emerge as the single-largest party with 108 seats.

However, after Vijay decided to retain only one of the two Assembly constituencies from which he had contested and won, the party’s effective strength came down to 107.

In the days following the poll verdict, hectic political activity unfolded in Chennai as the TVK initiated discussions with multiple parties to garner support for government formation.

The CPI and CPI-M were among the first to extend support, followed later by the Congress, VCK, and IUML.

Celebrations erupted among TVK cadres across Tamil Nadu soon after the Governor’s announcement, with party workers gathering outside the party headquarters in Chennai, bursting crackers and distributing sweets as Vijay prepared to become the state’s next Chief Minister.

–IANS

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