Chennai | The four-day-old TVK government in Tamil Nadu crossed a major political hurdle on Wednesday, with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay comfortably winning the trust vote in the state assembly by 144 votes in favour and 22 against amid a DMK walkout and a divided AIADMK, whose 25 rebel MLAs backed the actor-politician.
The floor test, which solidified Vijay's position as the chief minister, also exposed a full-blown split in the AIADMK, as 22 MLAs supporting party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami voted against the government, while the C Ve Shanmugam-SP Velumani faction voted in favour of the TVK.
As opposition leaders, including Palaniswami and DMDK legislator Premalatha Vijayakanth, accused TVK of horse-trading, the chief minister countered with a punchline that became the highlight of his speech.
"This government runs at horse-speed, not through horse-trading," Vijay asserted.
The chief minister also alleged that the people rejected the DMK, and therefore, the DMK might wish to insult TVK.
Replying to discussions over the vote of confidence resolution moved by him, Vijay also said his government will always be secular and will continue to implement the welfare schemes launched by previous regimes.
"All religions are our religions. All people are our people. There will be no discrimination between those who voted for us and those who did not. This is a government for everyone. This is a government for the common people," he said.
While the main opposition DMK, with 59 MLAs in the 234-member House, staged a walkout slamming the government, the PMK with 4 MLAs and the lone BJP member abstained.
The Vijay-led TVK government comfortably crossed the 118 majority mark, drawing support from the Congress, VCK, Left, IUML and MLA S Kamaraj, who was expelled from AMMK for supporting Vijay.
Minutes before Velumani announced support, Palaniswami asked his party MLAs to vote against the government. The Velumani-Shanmugam-led group defied the diktat and sided with the TVK regime. Noisy scenes were witnessed as Palaniswami's faction opposed Velumani-Shanmugam group's announcement of support to the government.
At the time of voting, TVK --which won 108 seats-- had a strength of 105 MLAs. While the court barred one TVK MLA from voting, the total number further decreased because Vijay had also resigned from Tiruchi-East. Speaker JCD Prabhakar cannot vote unless there is a "tie" situation.
Wednesday's win provided the maiden TVK government the much-needed confidence to settle down amid questions about its stability following the lack of a majority. Another floor test cannot be held for the next six months.
As soon as the House convened at 9.30 am, CM Vijay, attired in a black blazer, moved the vote of confidence resolution, and the legislators belonging to all parties spoke on the motion.
The "count and assess" method of division-wise voting, which involves calling out each MLA's name to ascertain their stand, was used.
After conducting the voting exercise, Speaker JCD Prabhakar declared that the resolution moved by the chief minister seeking the Assembly's vote of confidence had won with 144 MLAs voting in favour and 22 against it. Five MLAs took a neutral stand.
Speaking on the trust vote, Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin said, "a majority of people did not vote for TVK."
Only 1.72 crore people voted for the Vijay-led party, and the remaining 3.21 crore people voted "against your party," he said.
The DMK leader claimed that about 65 per cent of the people rejected the TVK,and the confidence in the government is reducing gradually, including those who had voted for the actor-politician-led party.
He said the TVK does not have numbers, and it has cobbled up support by bringing together parties that fought polls under the DMK-led alliance and opposed the TVK.
Pointing to support from Kamaraj, Udhayanidhi said AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran had alleged horse-trading earlier. Kamaraj was part of AMMK, which was a constituent of the NDA, the ideological foe of TVK.
Another NDA constituent, AIADMK, has seen an "almost vertical split, and one faction is supporting you," he added. The DMK leader also referred to social media and claimed that people were asking, "how to describe the ruling party which has joined hands with corrupt forces? Is this a clean government?"
Udhayanidhi said people had doubts about the government's longevity as MLAs are borrowed. He accused Vijay of making false promises and diverting attention by levelling allegations of debt burden, while borrowing during the DMK regime was aimed at growth.
"The government lacks a majority and even basic political honesty, and people have no confidence that the government will provide good governance," he claimed.
Responding to Udhayanidhi's jibe that a majority of people rejected TVK, Vijay sarcastically asked if the DMK won 234 seats and secured 100 per cent votes when it formed the government in 2006.
He said the DMK formed the government at that time with the Congress's support, adding that the M K Stalin-led party was never going to understand the reality. Vijay also reiterated his attack on the opposition party regarding the debt burden.
"Within three years of starting the party, the people gave us 1.72 crore votes, amounting to 34.92 per cent. They sent the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the Legislative Assembly as the single largest party. Within just three years of the party's inception, by a very small margin —by a mere whisker—a simple majority has slightly eluded us.
"Therefore, if anyone considers this a minority government, we are happy with that too. We say it ourselves that this is indeed a minority government; it is a government that truly upholds the protection of minority people," Vijay asserted.
He also said there will be no discrimination, as this was not a government that intimidates but rather embraces everyone."It is not a government that shows hatred but one that loves everyone," the chief minister said.
"We firmly told the people that, just like the governments of the common man formed following the 1967 and 1977 elections, the TVK would also establish a government for the common man through the 2026 assembly elections. The people, placing their trust in us, voted with determination. That history of crowning success has repeated itself," Vijay said.
Meanwhile, Palaniswami claimed that the AIADMK MLAs who cross-voted in favour of the TVK government during the floor test had succumbed to the "lure" of cabinet posts. What they did was "unfair and illegal," he said.
"All party cadres, including those at the grassroots level, campaigned to secure the party's victory and assert its identity," he said. The Velumani faction "betrayed" the functionaries by supporting TVK in the assembly, he said.
Defending his move to support Vijay, Shanmugam claimed that TVK and AIADMK share a similar ideological agenda, viewing the DMK as an "evil force. This reason prompted a section of the AIADMK MLAs to support the government in the floor test."
Speaking to reporters after the floor test, Shanmugam also rejected Palaniswami's claim that they will get "ministerial berths" for supporting the TVK government.
"His (Palaniswami's) claim is totally false, and there is no truth in it," Shanmugam said.
