Vijay

Vijay is moving from honeymoon to consolidation. On July 1 he chaired a Mamallapuram meeting with Congress, VCK, IUML, and MDMK to formalize a state-level political front — naming it, appointing a coordinator, and setting up coordinated election machinery. Seven assembly by-elections loom, created by his own resignation from Tiruchirappalli East and six AIADMK MLA resignations. The meeting follows a string of ally pickups: IUML formally exited the DMK-led SPA on June 20, ending a partnership since 1962, citing good governance and a desire to avoid Governor's rule. MDMK followed on June 27, with Vaiko praising Vijay for eradicating corruption and backing the two-language policy, pledging MDMK support for TVK in local body and assembly by-elections. Congress installed Manickam Tagore as TNCC chief June 27 with an explicit strategy to win all 40 Tamil Nadu/Puducherry Lok Sabha seats in 2029 alongside TVK and form an INDIA government in Delhi.

His maiden assembly speech on June 23 set the tone: he attacked DMK for fund diversion, failing to appoint a DGP, and rising drug problems, vowed to pursue all corruption cases, and performed a cinematic "it's over" hand gesture with the Speaker's permission. "We are not anybody's B-team. We are the People's Team," he declared. DMK's Udhayanidhi Stalin walked out, called it scripted acting, and escalated to personal attacks referencing legal proceedings involving Vijay's wife in Chengalpattu court.

Law and order is his sharpest vulnerability. An ammonia leak at a Tiruvallur seafood plant killed 11 migrant workers June 21; a 3-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and murdered in the same district. Vijay ordered a three-member inquiry committee and 2 lakh ex gratia for the workers' families, and two plant owners were arrested. But on the child killing he has drawn sustained fire for public silence, with Udhayanidhi Stalin calling law-and-order "on life support," M.K. Stalin saying Vijay is in "silent mode," and TKS Elangovan declaring "He is afraid. He won't even meet the Press." Vijay launched the Singappenn Special Task Force on June 9 — an all-women police unit with drone-based patrols deployed statewide, led by IG K. Bhavaneeswari, targeting crimes against women and drug networks.

Two white papers framed the fiscal inheritance. Finance Minister N. Marie Wilson pegged combined state debt at 13.18 lakh crore and the revenue deficit at a record 78,324 crore, branding it a "man-made disaster" from the DMK era. A separate power-sector audit detailed 2.47 lakh crore in TNEB debt, 65,921 vacancies, and domestic generation of just 3,495 MW against peak demand above 21,300 MW. Recovery plans totaling 49,500 crore over four years were pledged, with no tariff hikes or new taxes this year.

On Cauvery, Vijay moved a unanimous assembly resolution June 19 opposing Karnataka's Mekedatu dam, urging the Centre to withhold clearances. His appointment of Bengaluru-based film producer K. Venkata Narayana as Tamil Nadu's Special Representative in Delhi drew fire from BJP and DMK alike, who called the Karnataka residency a Mekedatu conflict of interest. Governor Arlekar delivered the first uninterrupted policy address to the assembly in three years, unveiling the "Vetri Thamizhagam" vision document — a signal of Raj Bhavan thaw. The Supreme Court dismissed a PIL alleging horse-trading in Vijay's May 13 trust vote, calling the claims "vague, wild and casual," leaving his 144-MLA majority legally unchallenged.