Lights, Camera, Government: Actor-Turned-Politician Vijay Is Now Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister
In a historic political debut, C. Joseph Vijay is sworn in as Tamil Nadu’s 9th Chief Minister, breaking nearly six decades of Dravidian party dominance — and wasting no time getting to work.
Tamil Nadu woke up to a new political era on Sunday as Thalapathy Vijay — the film superstar who traded the silver screen for the campaign trail just two years ago — took oath as the state’s Chief Minister at 10:15 AM in Chennai. The ceremony, held at an indoor stadium, was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned Vijay to offer his congratulations.
The swearing-in carried a moment of early drama: as Vijay stepped up to take his oath, he began delivering what appeared to be an impromptu speech rather than reading the prescribed lines. Governor Arlekar promptly intervened, directing him to confine himself to the formal text of the oath. Vijay nodded, composed himself, and proceeded to take the oath in Tamil, pledging allegiance to the Constitution, the unity and integrity of India, and the impartial dispensation of justice to all people without fear or favour.
Nine cabinet ministers from Vijay’s party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), were sworn in alongside him, including N. Anand, Adhav Arjun, Dr. KG Arunraj, KA Sengottaiyan, P. Venkataraman, R. Nirmalkumar, Rajmohan, Dr. TK Prabhu, and Selvi S. Keerthana. TVK leader MV Karuppaiah has been appointed Protem Speaker. The Governor has asked Chief Minister Vijay to prove his majority in the assembly by May 13.
Vijay moved swiftly upon taking office. His first acts as Chief Minister included signing orders to supply 200 units of free electricity to domestic consumers, establish a dedicated women’s safety force, and set up an anti-narcotics squad — clear signals of the priorities he had campaigned on.
In his maiden public address as Chief Minister, Vijay positioned himself as a leader of ordinary people. He stated that he hails from no royal lineage and that it is the people who embraced him, vowing he would never betray them with false promises. He announced that a white paper on the state’s finances would be released to ensure transparency, accused the outgoing DMK government of saddling Tamil Nadu with debts of Rs 10 lakh crore, and declared that there would be no alternative power centre in his administration — authority would rest with him alone.
TVK’s rise is as remarkable as it is rapid. The party, barely two years old, secured 108 of Tamil Nadu’s 234 assembly seats in its very first election. The coalition government also has the support of Congress, CPI, CPM, VCK and IUML. With Vijay’s swearing-in, Tamil Nadu has, for the first time since 1967, a Chief Minister from outside the Dravidian political establishment — a seismic shift in a state where the DMK and AIADMK have alternated power for nearly six decades.
