Vijay resigns as MLA after historic victory

CHENNAI: The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay on Sunday resigned as the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Trichy East assembly constituency.

He contested in the assembly elections from the Perambur and Trichy East constituencies and was elected from both. He resigned from the latter as one is permitted to hold the MLA seat for only one constituency at a time.

Ministers Sengottaiyan and Venkataramanan handed over the resignation letter to the Assembly Secretary, Srinivasan.

As the Trichy East Assembly constituency will be declared vacant, the Election Commission will conduct a by-election there within a period of six months.

Vijay was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at a ceremony on Sunday at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and the oath of secrecy to him. Subsequently, nine MLAs, including N Anand, Adhav Arjuna, Arun Raj, Sengottaiyan, and CTR Nirmal Kumar, took oaths as ministers.

Addressing the gathering, he said, “I will release a White Paper regarding the current financial status of Tamil Nadu. Do not expect everything to be delivered immediately. Please grant me some time. I will take stringent measures to ensure women’s safety and to combat the drug culture.”

Upon his arrival at the Secretariat, Vijay was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. Government and police officials extended their congratulations to him for formally assuming charge as the Chief Minister.

The first thing Vijay did as the CM was to sign a file providing 200 units of free electricity to domestic consumers, setting up the ‘Singappen’ (Lioness) Special Task Force to enhance women’s safety, and creating anti-narcotics units to curb drug-related crimes.

He promised transparent governance, women’s safety, welfare-oriented administration, and a corruption-free government, while thanking the people for placing their trust in him. “Whether they are friends or enemies, all eight crore people of Tamil Nadu are my people,” he declared.

In a strong statement against corruption, Vijay vowed that not even “a single paisa” of public money would be misused under his administration.

“Vijay will not commit any mistake, and he will not allow wrongdoing,” he asserted.

In a message to political rivals, he said those who believed they could destabilise the government through “political games” should abandon such hopes. “There is only one power centre here,” he stressed.