Tamil Nadu CM Vijay calls on Stalin, Vaiko, Anbumani, Seeman

A day after he was sworn-in, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay sprung a surprise on Monday by calling on DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko, Naam Tamilar Katchi founder Seeman, Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Anbumani Ramadoss.

Meanwhile, leaders from other States in India and in Sri Lanka extended their greetings to Mr. Vijay.

Taking to social media, Mr. Stalin said Mr. Vijay met him with “political decency” and received his wishes. “I gave him my wishes and suggestions,” Mr. Stalin said. Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin was also present during the meeting. Mr. Vijay and Mr. Stalin exchanged shawls, and Mr. Udhayanidhi presented a book to Mr. Vijay.

Mr. Vaiko, along with his son and MP Durai Vaiko, received Mr. Vijay at their residence. Mr. Vaiko told The Hindu: “He is the first Chief Minister to visit my residence. Even Mr. Stalin visited only when he was the Leader of the Opposition.”  In a video clip, Mr. Durai Vaiko was seen introducing a few to Mr. Vijay as “those who voted for whistle!”

Mr. Vijay also visited Mr. Anbumani, in the presence of Dharmapuri MLA Sowmiya Anbumani, and Mr. Seeman, who presented him with a basket of fruits and a book.

Meanwhile, many leaders extended their greetings to the new Chief Minister, who was sworn-in on Sunday. Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers of State L. Murugan and Ramdas Athwale, leaders of allies, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, extended their greetings, an official release said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and Sri Lankan Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa also greeted the new Chief Minister.

Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and former Union Minister Rajesh Pilot extended their greetings to Mr. Vijay.

Former Kerala Minister Ramesh Chennithala; MPs Kamal Haasan, Vijay Vasanth, Karti P. Chidambaram, Mahua Moitra (Trinamool Congress), and Abhishek Singhvi (Congress); former BJP State president K. Annamalai; DMDK general secretary Premallatha Vijayakant; Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi; AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran; AIPTMMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala, Congress leader Girish Chodankar; and BJP State president Nainar Nagenthran also greeted Mr. Vijay.

ZOHO founder Sridhar Vembu, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, Odisha MLA Sofia Firdous, Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader John Pandian, Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi leader Paarivendhar, Puthiya Needhi Katchi leader A.C. Shanmugam, Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader T. Velmurugan, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y.S. Sharmila, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra, BJP functionary Khushbu Sundar, and actor Prakash Raj were some others who extended their greetings to Mr. Vijay. The Chief Minister thanked them all.