India, May 14 -- The four-day-old TVK Government in Tamil Nadu crossed a major hurdle on Wednesday, comfortably winning the trust vote with the support of 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs amid DMK's walkout. The Opposition made allegations of horse-trading that were rejected by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.

In its confidence-boosting win, TVK romped home by a 144:22 margin, with all the 22 naysayers being the AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami. The 25 other party MLAs, from the C Ve Shanmugam-SP Velumani camp, voted in favour of the Government.

Replying to discussions over the resolution moved by him seeking vote of confidence, Vijay said his Government will always be secular and would continue to implement the welf...