Tamil Nadu polls: Vijay's war on DMK is creating new challenge for AIADMK; inside TVK leader’s strategy to claim MGR and Jayalalithaa's legacy

Returning to the public stage after the deadly stampede in Karur, which killed 41 people, actor-politician Vijay called himself a crusader of social justice while invoking former chief ministers M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa. In a cinematic, punchy dialogue style, Vijay questioned the DMK and its claims to governance. Vijay asked the people to affirm faith in him, and the bond between him and the people began thirty years before.

Resuming his public outreach programme from Perunthurai in Erode, standing atop his specially designed campaign bus, Vijay delivered a fiery 20-minute speech. Vijay climbed atop the bus, holding his hand up high in the air, fingers tightly folded, and waved to the cheering crowd. Clad in his usual beige trousers and white shirt attire, Vijay opened his address by referring to Erode as the land of ‘Manjal’ (turmeric).

“Manjal. Manjal. Manjal,”  he said thrice as he began his speech, a tirade against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rather. He said, being the capital of turmeric, Erode farmers have not benefited from the successive governments. “Have they done anything meaningful to you?” he asked the cheering crowd. A loud noise saying “no” came from the crowd.

And from Manjal, Vijay went on to talk about Kalingarayan, a 13th-century medieval chieftain from the Erode region who is known to have built waterways and dams - the Kalingarayan dam and the canal system in the region. “He had the courage to build the dams. And that courage came from his mother,” Vijay recalled. As the crowd cheered again, he paused for a moment and said, “There is nothing bigger than the courage that you get from your mothers. If that is there, you can achieve anything,” Vijay said. Stating that it was that courage that people were witnessing in him today, Vijay said, “And I am getting the same courage from you.” 

But beyond Erode and Periyar, Vijay chose to turn to his opponents - particularly the DMK. Though he had called the Bharatiya Janata Party his ideological enemy, Vijay said it is enough if he speaks against “those who are on the ground,” implying that he will attack only the DMK. Declaring the DMK as an “evil force” and positioning the TVK as the “pure force”, Vijay's speech sounded more cinema-infected, of course, with all the required spirit, vehemence and vengeance.

Vijay deliberately evoked late chief ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa, only to frame the upcoming assembly polls as a fight between the DMK and his TVK, which he has been claiming since TVK's first state conference at Vikravandi in 2024. Apparently, Vijay’s idea of calling the DMK an “evil force” was only to revive the memories of the people in the state, who have witnessed intense political fight between Karunanidhi and MGR, and later between Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa. In fact, this fight defined electoral politics in Tamil Nadu for over five decades, since MGR floated AIADMK. 

And, standing atop his bus by reading a scripted speech, Vijay seems to be attempting to rewrite the state’s political narrative – DMK vs AIADMK as DMK vs TVK, which might turn out to be far from reality. Being in Periyar’s birthplace, Vijay accused the DMK of using Periyar’s name to exploit the state, only to send a message about the political rivalry he had built against the DMK, since the launch of his party in 2024. 

By carefully choosing to invoke former chief ministers C.N. Annadurai, MGR, and Jayalalithaa, Vijay posed a serious challenge to the AIADMK, which had been playing the anti-DMK card all these years in Tamil Nadu politics. Vijay’s rise, particularly by playing the Jayalalithaa card, TVK also poses a huge threat to the AIADMK, which has several factions claiming Jayalalithaa’s legacy. This could spell trouble for AIADMK leader Eddapadi K. Palaniswami, who is still struggling hard to claim Jayalalithaa’s legacy. And, what had made AIADMK’s position more difficult is the entry of AIADMK strongman K.A. Sengottaiyan into the TVK, who knows the inner workings of the AIADMK and also Palaniswami’s weakness. 

However, Vijay did not choose to attack the BJP, not even comment on the Thirupparankundram issue or the MNREGA issue, which is rocking the Parliament. Incidentally, the speech at Erode was more cinematic and had all the optics to promote a hero rather than the political substance, which has been lacking since his first rally. With just 100 days left for the election, there was no clarity from Vijay on his roadmap to address the pressing issues in the state or the federal fight between the state and the centre.

With much symbolism, emotion and cinematic punch dialogues, the Erode rally, however, had huge support from his fans. The energy and the enthusiasm in the crowd to watch and hear him continue to remain the same, making it clear that his political graph continues to remain the same, despite the deadly Karur stampede, where 41 people lost their lives, just 70km away from Erode. And the DMK versus TVK narrative set by Vijay is expected to grow multifold in the run-up to the election.