Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu chief minister Vijay on Wednesday won the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly and followed it up with a combative open letter to the people, accusing the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of trying to undermine his government despite its floor-test victory.Moving the confidence motion for his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government, Vijay secured the support of 144 MLAs, while 22 voted against, five remained neutral and 60 did not participate.In an open letter released shortly after the vote on X, Vijay called the outcome a clear endorsement of his government and hit out at “arrogant” DMK as they walked out of the assembly claiming Vijay did not have majority.The trust vote comes days after Vijay took oath as CM following a fractured verdict in the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly election, where TVK emerged as the single largest party but fell short of a majority on its own. The party later secured outside support from the Indian National Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian Union Muslim League.In his statement, Vijay directly targeted leader of the opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and rejected the DMK’s argument that his government lacked majority public support.“The old, stale argument that we did not receive the support of the majority of Tamil Nadu people was once again raised by the opposition leader in his usual style,” Vijay said.Citing election figures, he claimed that TVK had won 34.92% of the vote while contesting alone, compared to DMK’s standalone 24.19%.“These are not numbers we are saying. These are figures released by the Election Commission,” he wrote, adding that TVK had secured over 1.72 crore votes, which he said was around 53 lakh more than the DMK’s tally.Vijay also used the letter to hit back at allegations that his government depended on “borrowed support” from other parties. “It is because we are firmly committed to secular values that Congress, VCK, CPI, CPM and IUML supported our government,” he said.In a pointed political attack, Vijay accused the DMK of hypocrisy over coalition politics and invoked its past ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party.“People have not forgotten how the DMK suddenly supported the BJP alliance during the 1999 confidence vote in Parliament. Nor have they forgotten that later the DMK allied with the same BJP and obtained ministerial positions,” he wrote.The TVK chief also suggested that the opposition had attempted to prevent his party from forming the government after the election, saying, “The DMK did everything possible to ensure that the TVK should not form a government despite being the single largest party with people’s support.”Positioning his government as one rooted in public sentiment rather than social media optics, Vijay said, “We do not rely merely on digital technology. We rely only on the emotions of the people.”He ended the letter with a message of continuity, saying his administration would remain focused on welfare and governance despite political attacks.“We will not pay attention to mudslinging. We will always focus only on people-centric actions, schemes and laws,” Vijay said, adding that his government would remain “firmly committed to secularism and social justice.”The DMK had walked out of assembly during the floor test.
