The Joseph Vijay-led TVK government won the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday with 28 more votes than the 116 needed for a simple majority, with the support of rebel AIADMK MLAs and several pre-poll allies of the DMK.

After a tense two-hour debate and voting, Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar announced that the motion moved by the chief minister that “this House expresses confidence in the government headed by Joseph Vijay” had been successfully adopted by the Assembly with 144 members voting for it, 22 against it and 5 abstentions.

The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly’s effective strength has been reduced to 231 with Vijay relinquishing the Tiruchirappalli East seat after winning from two constituencies and Madras High Court barring TVK MLA Seenivasa Sethupathy from voting. The Speaker did not vote in the floor test. Vijay, therefore, needed the support of only 116 MLAs to prove his majority.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the high court’s order restraining Sethupathy from voting. Terming the order “atrocious”, the top court said the high court ought not to have entertained the writ petition by DMK’s K.R. Periyakaruppan — who Sethupathy had defeated by one vote — as ideally he should have been asked to file an “election petition”.

During House voting, the TVK with 106 MLAs got the support of five MLAs from the Congress and two each from the CPI, CPM, Indian Union Muslim League and VCK, helping him to secure a simple majority. However, the final tally of 144 members supporting the TVK’s confidence motion came as a surprise.

The Opposition DMK led by Udhayanidhi Stalin staged a walkout with its 58 MLAs present in the House. Four MLAs of NDA-ally PMK, led by Dr Sowmya Anbumani, abstained from voting along with lone BJP MLA Bhoja Rajan.

Premalatha Vijayakanth, leader of DMK ally DMDK, also left the House before voting, along with two other smaller DMK allies who opposed the motion.

EPS wants his way

The AIADMK, led by general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), opposed the trust motion, saying his party had won 47 seats and stressing the legacy of its leaders M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa.

Referring to the dissidence within the AIADMK legislature party, Palaniswami accused the TVK of resorting to “horse trading” and “luring” some MLAs with ministerial posts.

“Is this fair when you promised a clean government?” EPS asked Vijay on the floor of the House during the debate on the confidence motion.

Palaniswami said all his party members “will oppose the confidence motion”.

However, EPS was left red-faced when 25 MLAs from the faction led by party leaders S.P. Velumani and C.Ve. Shanmugam voted in favour of the TVK.

Velamani said they accepted the people’s verdict in favour of Vijay as “God’s verdict”.

Members of other parties who supported the confidence motion said their decision stemmed from the need to avoid President’s Rule and the responsibility to ensure a secular government in the state.

DMK attack

Before walking out, Opposition leader Udhayanidhi reminded Vijay that there was no clear mandate for the TVK to form a government as nearly 65 per cent of the electorate had voted for other parties, including the DMK.

He also took a dig at how the TVK was forming a government by “loaning MLAs” from smaller parties that were part of the DMK-led alliance.

The DMK leader said the TVK’s conduct, including Vijay’s meeting with Shanmugam at his residence, showcased a “new kind of defection in Indian politics”.

Udhayanidhi accused the new government of starting its tenure with “tainted” practices. Pointing to lone AMMK MLA Kamaraj’s support to the TVK, Udhayanidhi said AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran had alleged horse-trading earlier.

Replying to the debate on the confidence motion, Vijay denied the allegations of horse-trading. “We gallop like a horse, not stoop to horse-trading,” he said.

OSD removed

Barely two hours after the Assembly session, the Tamil Nadu government rescinded the appointment of Vijay’s personal astrologer, Radhan Pandit Vetrivel, as the officer on special duty (OSD) in the chief minister’s office.

Several members, including parties offering outside support to the TVK, had in the House lashed out at the new government over Vetrivel’s appointment. The members said Vijay was free to consult astrologers, but appointing him to a public office with taxpayer money would send wrong signals of promoting “superstitious beliefs”.

“I will rethink about it,” Vijay had said, noting the objection.

AIADMK axe

Palaniswami on Wednesday removed leaders, including Velumani, Shanmugam and C. Vijayabaskar, from their party posts, PTI reported.

The party chief cracked the whip on the rebel MLAs, including Natham R. Viswanathan, after they defied the diktat to vote against the TVK during the floor test.

Palaniswami replaced the party posts of the 25 MLAs and appointed new district secretaries in their place. He has sought legal advice on the disqualification of the rebel MLAs.