K.G. Arunraj, a former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, was among the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leaders who took the oath alongside party chief C. Joseph Vijay on Sunday.
Arunraj, who took voluntary retirement from the civil service, is a native of Salem and was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from the Tiruchengode constituency. He won the seat in the Namakkal district by a comfortable margin of 28,172 votes. While he received 79,500 votes, the AIADMK's Sekar Chandrasekar and the DMK's Eswaran received only 51,328 and 49,465 votes respectively.
It was in June 2025 that Arunraj was appointed as the TVK’s General Secretary of Propaganda and Policy. Arunraj is a doctor who entered the civil service and served in the Income Tax Departments of Bihar, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu, reports said. The 46-year-old joined Vijay's ranks alongside former MLAs David Selvan and R. Rajalekshmi, reports showed.
A new era in Tamil Nadu politics begins
C. Joseph Vijay was sworn in as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Sunday in a colourful ceremony attended by top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, ushering in the first non-DMK, non-AIADMK government in the southern state in 60 years.
His cabinet is a mix of the young and the experienced, with the 51-year-old actor-turned-politician's core team finding places in his maiden ministry.
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In his first address, Vijay said he was not from any royal lineage and that the people had welcomed and accepted him. He said he will not deceive people with false promises. "A fresh, new governance has started, and a new era of real, secular social justice starts now," he added.
Vijay's parents—S. A. Chandrasekhar and Shobha—top actor Trisha, and a wide array of invitees attended the ceremony at the sprawling Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.
His first signatures on government files were to provide 200 units of free electricity for domestic consumers and to create a special force for women's safety.
Governor R. V. Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay and nine of his cabinet members, who included Dravidian veteran K. A. Sengottaiyan and young faces Dr T. K. Prabhu and S. Keerthana.
