Vijay’s TVK wins floor test in TN Assembly with 144 votes, AIADMK rebel group backs govt

Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government on Wednesday, May 13, won the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly with major support from the Congress, VCK as well as the AIADMK rebel faction led by leaders SP Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam.

As soon as the House convened, Vijay moved a vote of confidence resolution, with the MLAs belonging to all parties spoking on the motion.

Advertisement

After division-wise voting, Speaker JCD Prabhakar announced that the resolution moved by Vijay seeking vote of confidence of the Assembly has won. In total, 144 MLAs voted for the new government, 22 MLAs opposed and five took a neutral stand, including the PMK and BJP.

Notably, The trust vote proceedings witnessed high political drama after the DMK staged a walkout led by Leader of Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin. Launching a sharp attack on Vijay, he questioned the legitimacy of the TVK-led government’s majority.

Speaking during the confidence motion debate, Stalin alleged that the ruling alliance did not possess the required strength of 118 members in the 234-member Assembly to prove majority on its own. “You do not have the 118 seats required for a majority. Due to lack of confidence in winning, the Chief Minister contested from two constituencies and later resigned from one. He has not even thanked the people yet,” Stalin said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister stated that his government functioned with “horse-speed” and rejected the Opposition’s allegation of horse-trading.

Vijay said his government will always be secular and it would continue to implement the welfare schemes launched by the previous regimes in Tamil Nadu.

While the government functioned with “horse-speed”, it does not engage in horse-trading, he said.