Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday visited AIADMK MLA C Ve Shanmugam at his residence after he led a split in the party, and extended support to the TVK-led government, along with 30 other MLAs.
TVK chief Vijay, who reached Ve Shanmugam's residence as part of a series of meetings with leaders of different political parties ahead of the crucial floor test in the Assembly, was greeted by AIADMK veterans S P Velumani, C Vijayabaskar, Natham Viswanthan and K P Anbalagan with bouquets.
The visit came shortly after the faction led by Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani, extended support to the TVK, along with reportedly 30 MLAs.
Secretariat sources said Shanmugam also met the speaker and submitted a formal letter of support to TVK.
The recent poll debacle has led to a split within the AIADMK, with one faction headed by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswamy and another by Velumani and Shanmugam.
As AIADMK braces for further upheaval, the party's general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has remained silent regarding his next move.
Meanwhile, Vijay also met leaders of other political parties that had extended support to the TVK, facilitating the formation of a coalition government in Tamil Nadu.
Earlier in the day, Vijay met IUML chief KM Kader Mohideen and received felicitations from him. The IUML had on Saturday extended its "unconditional support" to the TVK, taking the total number of MLAs supporting the Vijay-led government to 13.
Vijay also called on VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan at his residence and expressed gratitude for the party's crucial support to the TVK. The Tamil Nadu CM reaffirmed his commitment to safeguarding the rights of minorities and providing a secular government in the state, according to sources.
The strength of TVK's legislature and parties supporting it has gone up to 121. TVK has the support of Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML. While Congress has five MLAs, CPI, CPI(M), VCK and IUML have two MLAs each.
Earlier on Monday, Vijay met with former Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M K Stalin at his residence in Chennai.
During the visit, Vijay also met with former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Vijay also met MDMK founder Vaiko, PMK chief Anbumani Ramadoss and Tamil nationalist party, NTK's chief Seeman at their respective residences.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
