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To appeal to the legion of voters still loyal to the AIADMK, Vijay must borrow their stars
Actor Vijay (Photo Credit: X)
At his rally in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district, actor-turned-politician Thalapathy Vijay let out a series of fiery roars, whipping up a frenzy of passions amid his legion. Large, energetic crowds are a permanent feature of Vijay’s poll rallies, and it was no different at Erode.
Huge crowds spilt onto the roads adjoining the venue. Increased police presence provided a controlling effect and yet, there was no dearth of daredevilry.
As Vijay managed to begin his speech and speak over the cacophonous reception from his fans, he belted a series of powerful statements delivered in his cinematic style, about the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) being an “evil force”, and his wonder over why the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) nurtured a near-maniacal opposition to the DMK.
And then, capping it all, came the line he was waiting to deliver: “No one can claim Anna [CN Annadurai] and MGR [MG Ramachandran] as their own. They are all assets of Tamil Nadu.“
In his speech in Erode, for the first time, he also made a reference to Jayalalithaa.
For anyone looking to read into Vijay’s internal struggle as a politician, the above line would serve as light.
It is that of a new entrant hunting for an ideologue to pivot their party around. It reflects the tearing need to hitch his wagon to a higher, revered force, to borrow their light, to be seen in this auspice and be seen as someone following in their footsteps. For, Vijay has crash-landed — not parachuted — onto the scene of Tamil Nadu’s politics.
Unlike MGR, whose deep entrenchment with the DMK is well-documented, or J Jayalalithaa, whose tryst with politics and her yin-yang feelings about it are well-known, Vijay has been largely keeping away from active politics till he entered it; barring his brief forays such as his meeting with Rahul Gandhi as early as 2009, etc.
To appeal to the legion of voters still loyal to the AIADMK, he must borrow their stars. But, to do that brazenly would not cut him any favour, and that is the fine line Vijay is walking, as though of a person sliding into the frame at the last moment before a picture is clicked.
Both MGR and J Jayalalithaa had made DMK opposition as the core fibre of their politics. If MGR had systemised this sentiment, Jayalalithaa made it personal, to the extent that no AIADMK member –from the grassroots cadre to cabinet minister — would as much as make eye contact with a DMK member. It was the fierce, revenge-fuelled years beginning right after MG Ramachandran’s death in December 1987 and continued till Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016.
The DMK, by virtue of its own survival instinct, would oppose even remotely resembling Jayalalithaa and MGR. It makes sense to them to throw a wet blanket on any spark that resembles the flames they were.
The question is: Can Vijay be that spark?
December 19, 2025, 15:42 IST
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