Joseph C Vijay, chief of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), had a rather bumpy ride over the last few days as he scrambled to get the majority strength required for him to take charge as Tamil Nadu’s next chief minister.
The Vijay-led suspense thriller finally ended on Saturday after he received support from IUML and VCK, followed by Governor RV Arlekar’s assent for government formation. Track updates on Tamil Nadu oath ceremony
He took oath on Sunday morning, along with nine TVK MLAs, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was present at the ceremony at Chennai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Why Vijay had trouble staking a claim
When the results for Tamil Nadu assembly elections were declared on May 4, Vijay’s TVK stunned everyone by winning 108 seats, emerging as the single largest party.
Everyone called it a stellar debut for the TVK, but the debut didn’t quite land. It had its shortcomings. The TVK lacked 10 seats to form a stable government on its own and now relied on post-poll alliance.
Over the next few days, there were talks with other parties for a possible tie-up, with the Congress turning up to support the TVK with five MLAs. After a lot of back and forth, the party then received support from CPI and CPI-M, followed by VCK and IUML on Saturday.
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Amid this suspense, the newly-elected CM met with Governor Arlekar at least four times before taking oath on Sunday.
At the end, numbers turned in Vijay’s favour, and the star rose from movies to the power corridors of Tamil Nadu and took oath on Sunday morning.
He found allies in opponents. Vijay’s road to power mimicked a film script as he almost raced against time to gather majority support before May 10, or else the President’s rule would have been imposed in Tamil Nadu.
Films to power corridors: A look back at Vijay’s journey
One of the leading actors in the Tamil movie industry, Vijay, was born in 1974 and made his cinematic debut in 1992 with ‘Naalaiya Theerpu’. He comes from a film background, and his father, S A Chandrasekaran, is a director who directed his debut film. Vijay’s mother, Shoba Chandrasekhar, is a playback singer and vocalist.
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He rose to fame with a lover boy image as his role in romantic films such as Poove Unakkaga, Love Today, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai and Thullatha Manamum Thullum was much appreciated in the 90s.
At the turn of the millennium, he switched his genre and took up more action films, such as Thirumalai, Ghilli and Pokkiri. Some of his commercial successes in the last decade include Thuppakki, Kaththi, Mersal, Sarkar, Master, Leo, and The Greatest of All Time.
Vijay’s final film and its hurdles
While he quit films in 2024 and made an entry into politics, his film Jana Nayagan, which was for release in January this year, could not hit the screens as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) did not certify it. The release was postponed over CBFC objections, prompting the makers to move the court. The matter is sub judice, and hence, the film’s release is stalled. In April, the film was leaked online, rattling the Tamil film industry and raising concerns about piracy.
Jana Nayagan is directed by H Vinoth and is touted to be Vijay’s final film as he enters politics with TVK. It also stars Mamitha Baiju, Pooja Hegde and Bobby Deol. The film was supposed to be released in theatres for Pongal but was postponed due to delayed certification.
Despite the producer approaching the court, he received no relief. Vijay has since alleged ‘conspiracy’ over the film’s delay, blaming the ruling parties for it. He also alleged that news about his personal life was leaked closer to the elections deliberately
