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The Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Sunday congratulated actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay after he was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and expressed hope that Tamil Nadu would achieve new heights of development under his leadership.
In a post on X, Patnaik extended his best wishes to Vijay and said, "Congratulate Shri @actorvijay on being sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. I wish, under your leadership, the state reaches new heights of development with the support of the people of the state. Best wishes." Vijay, whose full name is Chandrasekhar Joseph Vijay, took an oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at a grand ceremony held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai. Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Vijay's parents SA Chandrasekhar and Sobha Chandrasekhar, and actress Trisha Krishnan were among those present at the ceremony. Along with Vijay, nine TVK leaders also took oath as ministers in the party's maiden cabinet. The ministers included N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, KA Sengottaiyan, KG Arunraj, P Venkataramanan, R Nirmalkumar, Rajmohan, TK Prabhu and S Keerthana. Ahead of the ceremony, Vijay personally welcomed Governor Arlekar and introduced him to the ministers-designate. The 2026 Tamil Nadu elections were registered in history books after the state declared an unprecedented mandate for Vijay. While TVK ended up winning 108 out of 234 seats in its maiden political stint, it was for the first time in the history of state politics that both legacy 'Dravidian' parties were ousted from power. However, Vijay couldn't attain majority on its own and was later offered support by Congress (5), CPI-M (2), CPI (2), VCK (2) and IUML (2), which were earlier the allies of Secular Progressive Alliance led by DMK. Vijay, often referred to as the 'Thalapathy', showed a crowd-pulling ability in the election rallies, which many compared to actor-turned-politician and former CM MG Ramachandran. While Tamil Nadu has had a long history of actors entering and conquering politics, the State awaited another star to step up in the line after Captain Vijayakanth. He has also embraced his Christian identity while being outspoken about secular politics. Although the TVK was launched in 2024, he has been looked at as a social worker and has not been apolitical, given his films, which dealt with drug menace, corruption and other socio-political issues. While there has been speculation of him entering politics since 2009, Vijay has involved himself in social work. In the 2026 elections, he won two seats, Perambur and Trichy East, and will resign from one. (ANI)
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