NEW DELHI: After taking oath as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay signed his first set of official documents, ordering 200 units of free power supply and setting up a task force to tackle drugs and ensure women’s safety.Addressing the crowd, Vijay said he would not deceive people with false promises.“This is a new beginning. A new era of real, secular social justice starts now,” he said.In his first address, Vijay said he did not come from any royal lineage, but people welcomed and accepted him.He urged people to give him reasonable time to deliver on his promises.Vijay also accused the previous DMK regime of burdening the state with Rs 10 lakh crore debt. He said he was considering releasing a white paper on state finances to ensure transparency going forward.Earlier in the day, the oath of office was administered by Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Vijay’s parents, actor Trisha Krishnan and several others were present at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for the ceremony.Apart from Vijay, nine other TVK leaders — N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, K A Sengottaiyan, K G Arunraj, P Venkataramanan, R Nirmalkumar, Rajmohan, T K Prabhu and S Keerthana — also took oath as ministers in his maiden cabinet. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Vijay welcomed Governor Arlekar to the venue and introduced him to the ministers-designate.The 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly election entered the history books after the state delivered an unprecedented mandate to Vijay. TVK won 108 of the 234 seats in its maiden electoral outing. It also marked the first time in Tamil Nadu’s political history that both major Dravidian parties were voted out of power.However, TVK fell short of a majority on its own and later received support from Congress (5), CPM (2), CPI (2), VCK (2) and IUML (2), all of which were earlier allies of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.
