Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday comfortably won the trust vote in the state Assembly with the support of 144 MLAs, capping a week of intense political negotiations, a split within the AIADMK, constitutional uncertainty and sharp accusations of “horse trading” from rivals. The confidence motion, moved by Vijay in the 234-member House, was passed with 144 members voting in favour, 22 against and five abstaining after the DMK staged a walkout before the voting process. The support for the TVK came from its own MLAs and including those of the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK, IUML, expelled AMMK MLA S Kamaraj, and 25 rebel AIADMK legislators led by former ministers S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam. The vote formally secured the position of the actor-turned-politician whose party, with 108 seats in its debut election, emerged as the single-largest force but fell short of the majority mark of 118.…