Actor Vijay
Credit: DH Photo
In the clearest hint so far that popular actor Vijay will take a plunge in politics, his fan club association Vijay Makkal Iyakkam on Saturday said it was preparing itself to take a “new dimension” in the future and asked its Information Technology (IT) wing to strengthen the ties between the outfit and the people of Tamil Nadu.
At a meeting of the IT wing in Chennai, Bussy Anand, General Secretary, VMI stressed on the importance of social media platforms in present day politics and outlined plans to expand the wing with a combined strength of 30,000 people at the city, district, town, taluk, town panchayat, and village levels.
“We began our journey as a fan club association 31 years ago and we have been functioning as a people’s movement for the past 15 years. We are preparing ourselves to take a new dimension in the future. As part of this effort, we are strengthening the internal structure of Vijay Makkal Iyakkam,” Anand told the meeting.
Vijay, one of the highest paid actors in the country, is a popular Tamil film star with several hit films to his credit.
In the past few years, his fans have been urging him to don the hat of a politician. Vijay, who resisted the temptations for quite some time, did send a signal in June when he invited plus-two toppers from all 234 assembly constituencies to Chennai and felicitated them. His fans were also asked to garland statues of B R Ambedkar and K Kamaraj on their respective birth anniversaries.
Anand’s remarks on Saturday come as a clear hint that Vijay will be the latest Tamil star to enter politics in a state where both films and politics have been intertwined for decades together. Sources told DH that Vijay’s target is 2026 assembly elections and not the 2024 Lok Sabha polls – even a formal announcement on the political party is expected only after the general elections are over mid-next year.
At the meeting, Anand also stressed on the need for streamlining 1,600 WhatsApp groups with 3 lakh members and expand them to cover all assembly constituencies. He also asked the IT wing members to make short videos on beneficiaries of VMI’s social activities and share them on social media platforms, while asking them not to indulge in attacking individuals on sites and ensure that they don’t get into unnecessary issues.
Vijay who had in the past grabbed headlines by making political statements at audio launches of his films also allowed his fans to contest civic polls in 2021 and 2022 as independent candidates by using the VMI flag.
This was seen as a “soft launch” of the actor’s formal launch of the political party, even as his fans continue to indulge themselves in several social activities in the state.