Vijay to be sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Thursday

CHENNAI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay is set to be sworn in as Chief Minister on Thursday (May 7) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, as the party moves swiftly to stake claim to form the government after emerging as the single largest formation in the Assembly.

Vijay is scheduled to meet Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Lok Bhavan on Wednesday to formally present letters of support from MLAs and seek an invitation to form the government.

Late on Tuesday, Vijay held consultations with senior leaders, including N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna and veteran K A Sengottaiyan, at his Pattinapakkam residence to review arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony. Sengottaiyan has been tasked with overseeing the preparations.

Party sources indicated that a preliminary list of ministers is being firmed up, with key names including N Anand, K G Arunraj, K A Sengottaiyan, Aadhav Arjuna, CTR Nirmal Kumar, Tamilan Parthiban, ECR P Saravanan, J Mohamed Farvas, R Vijaysaravanan, V Sathyabama, Rajmohan, JCD Prabhakar and V S Babu.

Few female MLAs are also learnt to be under consideration.

Meanwhile, Governor Arlekar said, "TVK's initial communication contained only vote share details. I have asked them to provide the exact number of MLAs currently supporting them."

It may be recalled that the then Chief Minister-designate M K Stalin assumed office on May 7, 2021, following his party's electoral victory.