Actor Vijay.
Credit: Instagram/@actorvijay
Chennai: Popular Tamil actor and budding politician Vijay on Friday set his eyes on the 2026 assembly polls in by terming the first state conference of his Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) in Vikravandi on Sunday as the “first step” towards achieving the goal.
Penning a letter to his supporters ahead of the conference for which elaborate arrangements have been made, Vijay told them to maintain “utmost political discipline” at the public rally in northern Tamil Nadu, a politically-crucial region which has been the bastion of DMK and its ally VCK for a long time.
The 50-year-old actor, one of the highest paid in the country and the biggest box-office star in Tamil cinema having overtaken legends Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, announced his political debut on February 2 this year as he declared the name of his party.
However, this is the first time that Vijay will be delivering a political speech, which is expected to outline the party’s ideology and policies, besides the “grand plan” to take Tamil Nadu to a “new level.”
Sources in the know told DH that about five lakh supporters and fans of Vijay, including from neighbouring states, are likely to converge at Vikravandi, around 150 km from Chennai, on Sunday for the conference.
The media-shy actor is also likely to tell his supporters on Sunday that he will bid adieu, albeit for now, to cinema from February 2025 by when the shooting for his last film is expected to be completed so that he can prepare the party to be battle-ready for the 2026 polls.
“Let us take a pledge to work for the people of Tamil Nadu through our successful policies. Let us take the first step towards our goal of 2026 (assembly polls),” Vijay said in the letter.
A source said Vijay will outline a modern version of Dravidian ideology that includes Tamil pride and nationalism in his speech, which is likely to be an hour long. The actor, apart from making known his stand on many critical issues like language, NEET, and environment, will also unfurl the party’s red-yellow-green-blue flag.
Cut-outs of Dravidian legend E V R Periyar, Congress veteran K Kamaraj, and India’s first law minister B R Ambedkar erected at the conference venue are already a talk of the town.
The actor’s entry is sure to make the 2026 elections a crowded affair in Tamil Nadu with the state having moved towards a multi-cornered contest from a bi-polar race between the DMK and AIADMK. The 2026 elections will most probably be a five-cornered contest between DMK, AIADMK, BJP, NTK, and TVK.
Apart from taking on seniors like Chief Minister M K Stalin and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, Vijay will also fight for space with relatively young leaders such as Udhayanidhi Stalin, and BJP state chief K Annamalai.
The party’s anthem titled 'Tamizhan Kodi Parakuthu… Thalaivan Yugam Porakuthu' (Tamil flag flies high… A leader’s time has arrived) makes things explicit as they feature images of Dravidian stalwarts C N Annadurai and M G Ramachandran.
Borrowing the famous lines of the 1950s song 'Moondreluthil En Moochirukkum' (my breath lives in three letters) sung by MGR in his movies that alluded to the DMK, the anthem says time is up once again for the “three-letter word” to ring in Tamil Nadu.
Vijay joins the long list of actors who have joined politics in Tamil Nadu starting from M G Ramachandran, and J Jayalalithaa to Sivaji Ganesan, Vijayakanth, and Kamal Haasan.
While the first two made it big in politics like in the silver screen, the last three couldn’t register much success, though Vijayakanth briefly altered the bipolar politics in the state. Superstar Rajinikanth didn’t enter politics citing his ill-health after promising to launch a party and contest the 2021 elections.