Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay on Thursday announced that he would contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections from the Madurai East constituency. At the party’s second state conference in Madurai, he launched a fierce critique of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), declaring that TVK would position itself as the chief challenger in the upcoming polls.
Drawing a parallel to a lion establishing its territory, Vijay told the massive gathering of supporters, “A lion knows how to live among many, yet it also knows how to stand alone. It stays unique. A lion does not come out for entertainment—it steps out only to hunt, and it hunts only the living.” His metaphor drew thunderous cheers from thousands of TVK cadres present at the rally.
Having founded TVK in 2024, Vijay has consistently projected the party as a new alternative to both DMK and AIADMK, though he underlined that his direct political rival was the ruling DMK. “Our only ideological enemy is the BJP, and our political enemy is the DMK. TVK is not a party started for personal or political gain,” he declared.
Positioning TVK as a mission-driven movement, he stressed, “This is not a political stunt. This is not a speech for attention—it is a warning to those in power. TVK has come to dominate, and crores of people are with us. The 2026 election will be fought between TVK and DMK.” He further added that TVK would never resort to backroom deals, opportunistic alliances, or deceiving the people. “We are not afraid of anyone. The people of Tamil Nadu—especially women and youth—are standing with us.”
Vijay also pledged to champion wider Tamil causes, vowing to reclaim the disputed Katchatheevu island from Sri Lanka. Citing the long history of clashes between Tamil Nadu fishermen and the Sri Lankan Navy, he said, “As many as 800 of our fishermen have been attacked. To protect their lives, Katchatheevu must be retrieved and given back to us.”
The Madurai conference was billed as TVK’s biggest political show of strength to date, with cadres pouring in from across the state. It marked the party’s second such event since its formation, underlining Vijay’s determination to be a serious contender in 2026. He has often compared the upcoming elections to the historic 1967 and 1977 polls, when newcomers—DMK under CN Annadurai and AIADMK under MG Ramachandran—rose to power. Unlike them, however, Vijay has only recently taken the political plunge, though he has enjoyed mass popularity since 2004.
Just last week, he launched the “Now TVK” mobile app to step up membership drives. At the launch, he urged cadres to emulate Annadurai’s philosophy of living among the people, learning from them, and planning with them.
Laying out TVK’s priorities, Vijay said his party’s government would focus on the protection of women, elders, and children, while extending special support to farmers, youth, transgender persons, the differently-abled, and elderly citizens without caregivers.
He also accused the DMK of maintaining a covert understanding with the BJP while publicly acting as though they were rivals. “The DMK has a hidden alliance with the BJP but pretends otherwise,” he charged. Criticising the Centre, Vijay lashed out at the persistence of the NEET exam. “Because of your obstinacy, you continue to impose NEET. It pains me to even speak of the suffering caused by it. Abolish NEET! Will you do it? You never will,” he said, directly challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Can you revoke NEET, Narendra Modi avargal?”
In recent months, Vijay has sharpened his criticism of Chief Minister MK Stalin’s government. On X, he condemned the midnight arrests of sanitation workers protesting in Chennai, calling the move “inhumane and anarchic.” In his post, he wrote, “I strongly condemn the fascist DMK government for arresting sanitation workers, who were peacefully fighting for their rights, in such an inhumane and anarchic manner in the dead of night.”
However, the massive rally was overshadowed by tragedy. Prabhakaran, a 33-year-old TVK supporter from Chennai, collapsed while traveling to Madurai to attend the event. After a long overnight journey with his friends, he fainted upon arrival near Chakkimangalam. Though rushed to Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital, doctors declared him dead on arrival. The hospital’s dean later confirmed that he was brought in an unconscious state and could not be revived.
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