In 2024, when he launched his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), actor Vijay described himself as the primary force that had emerged to challenge both the Dravidian majors—AIADMK and the DMK—as well as the BJP as an independent force. He described the DMK as his political opponent and pitched the BJP as his ideological opponent. A few months earlier, while speaking to his party office bearers at Salem and Vellore, Vijay called the DMK the “evil force” and the AIADMK the “corrupt force.”
But three weeks down the line, strong opinions about Vijay’s TVK exploring alliance options are doing the rounds. On Sunday evening, as Vijay left the CBI office premises in Delhi after appearing for the third round of questioning in the Karur stampede case, news about TVK being offered the deputy chief minister’s post and around 60 seats in the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu was flashed on a few TV channels. Vijay, who rarely makes public appearances, after the CBI questioning on Sunday, was visibly happy. Clad in a black shirt and pyjama pants, he emerged through the sunroof of his car to wave to a cheering crowd of fans waiting to get a glimpse of the actor-politician outside the CBI office in Delhi.
Incidentally, Vijay, who looked tired and worn out after the first two rounds of questioning on January 12 and 19, looked calm and composed on March 15. According to sources, Vijay had categorically informed the CBI that he and his party could not be held responsible for the stampede on September 27 at Karur, which killed 41 people. It is said that Vijay also gave a written representation to the CBI officers requesting that the enquiry be shifted to Chennai, citing his commitments ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections scheduled to be held on April 23.
But as the summons were served, asking Vijay to appear for the third round of CBI questioning, speculation was rife that the actor and his party were being subjected to tremendous pressure to align with the BJP. It was said that the BJP was making all-out efforts to woo Vijay and that talks were held through Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. In a television interview, Pawan Kalyan clarified that he had not spoken to Vijay or anyone else in TVK regarding the alliance.
However, all these speculations and talks about an alliance with the BJP stemmed from the TVK district secretaries’ meeting held via Zoom on March 13. The agenda of the meeting, presided over by TVK general secretary Bussy N. Anand, was to appoint three micro observers from the party in each assembly constituency. But the Zoom meeting with all the 120 district secretaries turned into a discussion about forging an alliance with the AIADMK and the BJP, as some of them openly said that they did not have the wherewithal to fight the polls on their own. The two-hour-long meeting finally did not come up with any suggestion or solution to decide on appointing the micro observers in each constituency, but it set the narrative for TVK to consider entering an alliance with its ideological enemy.
While Vijay is yet to speak his mind on forging an alliance with the AIADMK-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, one of the major issues faced by the BJP is finding a proper channel to establish direct contact with the actor himself. Menahwil, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is also not very keen on approaching Vijay, while some of his close associates have sent feelers to Vijay. In fact, during the TVK Zoom meeting, the party’s Pudukkottai district secretary said that an AIADMK former minister from his district approached him for an alliance. He has apparently referred to former AIADMK minister Dr. C. Vijayabhaskar, who is under the CBI’s radar in the Gutkha case.
On Monday, TVK’s C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar clarified in a press conference that the party has still not opened any alliance talks with any party. “We will make a proper announcement if there are alliance talks,” he said. But Vijay’s close circles say that the actor has been under tremendous pressure due to the CBI case, the stalling of Jana Nayagan, and his pending divorce case. The multiple pressure points apparently were not meant to push Vijay into the NDA fold, but to make sure that he steps aside from politics in the upcoming election, like Sasikala did in 2021. But now Vijay may not step aside, as he has come a long way since the launch of the party.
Party insiders, however, say that he is exploring an option similar to what happened with Jayalalithaa’s election nomination in 2001. She filed nomination papers from four constituencies, and they were rejected as she had been convicted by a court. Later, the legislators elected her as chief minister. She then got acquitted in the case, contested a by-election from Andipatti and was sworn in as chief minister.
According to highly placed sources in bureaucratic circles in Chennai, Vijay had sold one of his prime properties in the swanky Anna Nagar area of Chennai a week ago for around ₹35 crore. While the property deal had been under discussion for over a year, it was clinched on an urgent basis. Sources also say that he is trying to liquidate two or more of his properties. The selling of the properties is not to fund his party candidates for the election but for other important reasons—one, sources say, is because of the pending divorce case. If the properties are sold well in advance before the divorce, his wife may not be able to claim rights over the property. The second is a political reason—to liquidate the properties so that they do not appear in his election affidavit under the assets column. Also, Vijay may not be able to get the consent of his wife at this juncture to mention the properties in the name of his spouse in the election affidavit. It is said that Vijay’s legal team feels that his nomination papers may be rejected due to these reasons and that he can claim victimhood like Jayalalithaa did in 2001.
