Actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) celebrated its second anniversary at the TVK headquarters at Panaiyur on the outskirts of Chennai without much fanfare. Speaking to his party office bearers and cadres after hoisting the party flag, Vijay said his party is the “top engine” in Tamil Nadu politics and that no double engine or any dabba engine can imagine to come to power in the state.
Expressing confidence in marking a massive victory in the upcoming elections, he took a dig at the ruling DMK and wrote off the AIADMK by comparing himself with MGR. Rejecting the opinion polls that claimed the TVK had a presence only in urban areas and small towns, and not in villages, Vijay asked all the opinion pollsters to redo their survey. He once again reiterated that the fight is between the DMK and the TVK.
During his 17-minute long speech, he said TVK exists everywhere across the state and Vijay is present in every house. He said chief minister Stalin himself will ask everyone to vote for TVK party symbol ‘whistle’ when he wakes up from deep sleep. “We will rise as the ruling party at the Fort St. George,” Vijay said.
Mocking the DMK by calling it “Pavazha Vizha Pappa” (meaning platinum jubilee child), he said that the “evil force DMK” can be toppled only by a “pure force” like the TVK.
He asked the party cadres and the party office bearers to work in coordination with the candidates and the booth committees to ensure that everyone vote for whistle. “Your duty is to ensure that you make people vote for whistle. Other things, I will take care by being in coalition with the people of the state,” Vijay told his cadres.
In his speech, he once again drew parallels with MGR who was criticised when he entered politics as an actor. He said that he too is facing similar criticisms like what MGR faced during his entry into politics.
Vijay recalled a radio interview given by MGR in 1977, in which he reportedly said that the AIADMK was founded to wipe away the tears that came to his eyes when he thought about how certain people had taken over the place of former chief minister C.N. Annadurai.
Vijay said the people who are mocking the TVK are the same people who said MGR doesn’t know anything. He called it an old weapon that is being used against him and asked his critics to change at least their technique at a time when the technology has grown up. He emphasised that TVK will continue to point out the mistakes of the DMK and that nobody had the guts to do it. He also read a couplet written in the Thirukkural format, by saying that DMK is the forefront of injustice, lawlessness and deceit.
Vijay took a dig at the DMK as usual, sharpening his rhetoric against chief minister M.K. Stalin and his government. The second anniversary celebration that lasted for just more than an hour had all the theatrics accompanied with more clarity and intent. But the celebration did not mark any shift from his usual stage style as the party believes that a loud rhetoric can help it win the required number of votes.
Vijay’s catchy punchlines and his Thirukkural against the DMK might be the clickbait for his crazy fans and followers who live on Instagram and YouTube reels. But in reality Vijay only repeated his same old script saying that the fight is between the DMK and the TVK, while rejecting the AIADMK as a strong player in the ground.
