Live Blog: CM Vijay passes the floor test with 144 votes

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay will face his first floor test in the Assembly, on Wednesday, May 13, less than a week after taking oath and forming the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government. The confidence motion is expected to be a crucial early test for Vijay, whose party emerged as the single largest force in the Assembly but still required support from allies to comfortably cross the majority mark. Over the past two days, Vijay has held a series of meetings with alliance partners including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), all of whom have reiterated support for the government ahead of the trust vote.

In the 234-member Assembly, the effective strength of the House currently stands at 232 because of the Speaker's vote and a vacancy in the Trichy East constituency, making 117 the majority mark. TVK has 106 MLAs of its own, while support from its allies takes the government’s tally to 119. Although the Madras High Court temporarily restrained TVK MLA R Srinivasa Sethupathi from participating in Assembly proceedings, bringing the effective strength down by one, Vijay still remains above the halfway mark.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) Udhayanidhi Stalin has arrived in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, just ahead of the floor test

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay moved a confidence motion in the Assembly, seeking the House’s backing for his newly formed government.

Congress Killiyoor MLA announced support for TVK on behalf of his party. CPI(M) Padmanabhapuram MLA Chellaswamy R extended outside support for TVK on behalf of his party. VCK Tindivanam MLA Vani Arasu extended support to TVK on behalf of his party. IUML Papanasam MLA Shahjahan extended support to the TVK on behalf of his party.

MLA S Kamaraj, who was elected in an Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) ticket from Mannargudi, extended his support to Vijay’s government ahead of the confidence motion in the Assembly.

Kamaraj’s backing, however, sparked a political controversy after AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran alleged that a support letter submitted in his name to the Governor was “forged” and accused TVK of indulging in “horse-trading.” TVK rejected the charges and later released a video purportedly showing Kamaraj writing the support letter voluntarily.

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK) general secretary Premallatha Vijayakant did not extend support to the TVK. She condemned the appointment of Vijay's personal astrologer Radhan Pandit Vettrivel as the CM's Officer on Special Duty (Political). Premallatha also accused the TVK of horsetrading MLAs.

Lone BJP MLA M Bhojarajan from Udhagamandalam says they will remain neutral during the vote of confidence

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MLA M Thamimun Ansari from Chidambaram constituency also voiced opposition to CM Vijay appointing astrologer Radhan Pandit Vettrivel as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister. He said that while he respects the religious beliefs of others, appointment of an astrologer to an official government role was against the principles of scientific temper and secular governance.

59 DMK MLAs, led by Opposition leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, stage a walk out. This brings down the strength of the Assembly to 173

Responding to concerns raised by alliance partners and members during the confidence motion debate, CM Vijay assured the Assembly that his administration would remain a secular government.

Vijay said his government respected the views expressed by members of the House and added that he would take their suggestions into consideration and “rethink” certain decisions that had drawn criticism.

Division voting will now commence to determine if CM Joseph Vijay has a majority in the House.

SP Velumanic and C Ve Shanmugam among AIADMK MLAs extend support to TVK. This goes against the orders of party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami