Joseph Vijay, Tamil Nadu’s superstar-turned-politician, has completed 100 days in office as Chief Minister after pulling off a stunning political upset in his electoral debut. So, how has he fared in the hot seat? His close confidante and minister, Aadhav Arjuna, offers an insight into the Chief Minister’s style of functioning.
According to Arjuna, Vijay works for nearly 20 hours a day, with his day beginning as early as 4 am with calls to ministers to seek updates on their departments.
“Our leader is working for more than 18 to 20 hours a day. He calls at 4 in the morning and asks what has happened in every department. That is the kind of CM we have,” Arjuna said while speaking at the India Today Tamil Nadu Conclave in Chennai.
He said Vijay’s approach since assuming office has been focused on identifying the next set of challenges and addressing problems across departments, rather than resting on the electoral mandate he received.
“We have absolutely no arrogance despite our CM becoming the Chief Minister. We want to work for the people,” Arjuna added.
Further explaining Vijay’s style of functioning, the minister described the actor-turned-politician as a “political monk”, saying the Chief Minister remained focused on governance rather than celebrating his electoral victory.
“After winning, I see him daily at the Secretariat. From the day he came, he looked like a political monk. What should be done? What should be done next? What should be done after that? There are so many problems. What are the problems in every department? Particularly corruption,” Arjuna said.
The minister said the Vijay government had, within its first 100 days, moved to plug financial leakages and bring greater transparency to government functioning. At the same time, Arjuna acknowledged that corruption could still exist at lower levels, describing it as a problem that had persisted within the official machinery for decades.
He said the government was attempting to change the system from the top, with Vijay repeatedly telling officials that financial leakages must stop and transparency must be maintained across government processes.
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