Can Vijay’s electoral debut shake up Tamil Nadu’s politics?

Kalaiselvi P has been selling fruit at the same spot in T Nagar, Chennai’s popular shopping area, for nearly 40 years. “Do you think it’s easy?” she said. “I’ve had to fight off other street vendors, police, these big shopkeepers, troublemakers, so many different types of people to keep my spot. I have had to work long and hard for this.”

Kalaiselvi, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, was drawing a comparison between her job and a job in the state that will soon be under contest – that of chief minister. She believes that only someone who has shown a long commitment to politics deserves the chief minister’s post.

“Vijay cannot just launch a party and become the chief minister on his first try,” she said. “He has to work at least for a few years.”

She was referring to the actor turned politician C Joseph Vijay, also fondly referred to as Thalapathi Vijay. Currently one of the biggest stars in the Tamil film industry, Vijay launched his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in 2024. He is fighting his first electoral battle in the upcoming assembly election, scheduled for April 23.

Valli, who was sitting on the same footpath, weaving white jasmine flowers together, firmly disagreed with Kalaiselvi. “It is time for somebody new,” said Valli, who also asked to be identified by a pseudonym. “How can we keep having the same government for so many years?”

She explained that she and her children would vote for Vijay’s party this time. “It is time for change,” Valli said. “Vijay is saying he wants to come to politics and bring about a change. Why should we not give Vijay a chance?”

Vijay is only the most recent of several actors across Tamil Nadu’s history to turn to politics.

MG Ramachandran, one of Tamil Nadu’s biggest superstars between the 1950s and the 1970s, broke away from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or DMK, to found the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or AIADMK, and served three terms as the state’s chief minister, right until his death in 1987. He was succeeded by another actor, his mentee J Jayalalithaa, who went on to serve six terms as chief minister.

Another actor turned politician, Vijayakanth, established the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam in 2005 and contested the 2006 assembly elections in all 234 seats, but managed to win only the seat he contested. However, in 2011, the party managed to win 29 out of the 45 seats it contested, making it the second-largest party in the assembly elections, and securing for Vijaykanth the position of leader of the opposition.

It is chiefly to MGR and Vijaykanth that Vijay is being compared as he prepares to enter the political fray.

Scroll spoke to voters in Perumbur, Villivakkam and T Nagar in Chennai, as well as political analysts, to understand how they perceive Vijay and his party and how they assess its chances in the election. While many voters are eager to give him an opportunity, others, including analysts, reason that his inexperience will weigh against him.

“MGR did not launch his own party and stand for elections as soon as he entered the field of politics,” said C Lakshmanan, a retired professor and political commentator. He noted that unlike Vijay, it was only after Ramachandran worked for several years in politics that he “established his own party”.

Despite this, Ramu Manivannan, the former head of the department of politics and public administration at the University of Madras, ventured a guess that Vijay’s party would emerge the third-largest party in the elections, overtaking the Naam Tamilar Katchi, led by Senthamizhan Seeman, which placed third in the 2021 election.

Many loyalists to the Dravidian parties

Electoral battles in recent decades of Tamil Nadu’s history have been primarily fought between the two Dravidian parties, the AIADMK and DMK, and parties in coalitions with them.

Vijay has chosen not to align with either party in the election. His determination to make a mark in his debut election is evident in the fact that while AIADMK is contesting 169 seats and DMK is contesting 164 seats, with the rest allocated to allies, the TVK is contesting in all 234 constituencies of the state.

Vijay himself is contesting from two constituencies: Perumbur, in Chennai district, and Tiruchirapalli East in Tiruchirapalli district.

Many voters remain loyal to the Dravidian parties for which they have voted in recent elections. Kalaiselvi, for instance, has voted for AIADMK since she was 18, and said she will continue to vote for them.

G Nabeesa, who is 60 and is voting from the Villivakkam constituency, said that as a young person, she always voted for AIADMK, because her father was a staunch supporter of the party. But in the last few elections, Nabeesa has voted for DMK. A faded poster of the party hangs on the wall of a makeshift store room next to her food cart on the road.

Nabeesa said that DMK had governed the state well in the last term and that she saw no reason to not vote for them again this year. “The free bus and the monthly financial assistance I get is a huge help to me,” she said. “They have developed this area very well.”

Imran Ali, a 32-year-old sales representative from Perumbur, concurred. “They have built AC bus stops, started the breakfast scheme for school students, this area has developed significantly, and community halls have also been constructed,” he said. “These are things that directly impact the lives of poor people.”

Some voters also view the party as a crucial bulwark against a domineering Centre government, helmed by the Bharatiya Janata Party – AIADMK, in contrast, is fighting the election in alliance with BJP. Ravi PV, a 64-year-old resident of Perumbur, argued that among the state parties, apart from the DMK, “There is nobody else who can give the Centre a fight.”

Some voters, however, are willing to give TVK a chance even though they have no particular criticisms of DMK. “The hospitals are good, so is education, roads,” said M Chitra Devi, a 47-year-old resident of Perumbur. She noted that the administration had even fixed a longstanding problem of water stagnation and flooding in her locality.

Despite this, she said, she would not vote for DMK. “I think it’s good if a new party comes to power,” she said.

In Perumbur, 50-year-old Aatham Basha, traditionally an AIADMK voter, had also decided to change his loyalties this year. When asked who he would vote for, Basha pulled out his phone to reveal that his WhatsApp display picture and his status updates were all images of Vijay and the TVK logo. “It’s time for a change,” he said.

Vijay’s decision to fight from Perumbur, a neighbouring constituency of Kolathur, currently held by Chief Minister MK Stalin, sends out a message that he was unafraid to enter into electoral contests in or near the party’s strongholds, observers suggested.

They reasoned that he also chose to contest from Tiruchirapalli East because he is a Christian, and the region has a significant Christian population. “Trichy has a considerable Christian population and the current MLA from the DMK is also a Christian,” Manivannan said. “So he may have considered that people there might vote for him.”

The question of Vijay’s religion has come under scrutiny in the past. In 2017, the BJP leader H Raja spoke up about the fact that Vijay was Christian, and alleged that this explained why a film he released that year was critical of the union government’s policies. Vijay’s fans came out in support of the actor in large numbers – some even added “Joseph” to their social media handles as a gesture of solidarity.

This time too, the question of the actor’s religion received some attention. When asked about whether Vijay represented a threat, in part because of his Christian identity, the current DMK MLA told reporters, “Christians will support DMK. MK Stalin protects Christians.” He added, “I am a practising Christian. I’ve never seen Vijay in church. He has never spoken against attacks on churches.”

Appeal to younger voters

In places like Perumbur and Villivakkam, college students and young professionals were quick to name Vijay when asked about their favoured candidates.

Two young women voters of Perumbur, who were 28 and 19 years old, and asked to remain anonymous, said that they were ardent supporters of Vijay’s party. “We will only vote for Vijay,” the 28-year-old said, smiling widely.

While Vijay has declared that his party would abide by “secular social justice principles”, many of these young voters, and others that Scroll met, were more persuaded by his promises to tackle specific challenges on the ground, such as drug and alcohol abuse.

Some older voters also echoed these concerns. “Everywhere you see there are young people drunk or on drugs,” said a 65-year-old shop-owner in T Nagar.

Valli, too, said she believed this was a major problem, and that she had seen young men in an inebriated or drugged state in different parts of the city. “Vijay is saying he will ensure that we are a drug-free state, I hope he is able to do it,” she said.

Many residents of Perumbur and Villivakkam whom Scroll met also raised concerns about women’s safety in the state. Some noted that in the last few months, DMK officials had found themselves in controversies over their involvement in cases of sexual abuse, harassment and assault. The party’s IT wing has also been criticised on social media for allegedly trolling and harassing women who have been critical of the party.

“Women are not safe in Tamil Nadu. We keep seeing reports of so many incidents in the paper every other day,” said 38-year-old Naseer from Villivakkam, who is supporting TVK.

To some voters, however, Vijay lost some of his appeal after one of his rallies, in Karur in September 2025 became the site of tragedy – a stampede broke out at the venue, in which 41 people died. Many observers argued that Vijay handled the incident and its aftermath poorly.

Ramu Manivannan, the former academic, said that the incident had eroded considerable trust among voters in his leadership. “He did not take responsibility and did not handle it well at all,” he said. “He had the chance to prove his leadership skills. But he failed to do it.”

He added, “Instead of meeting the victim’s families in Karur he asked them to come to Mahabalipuram to meet them. That shows a lack of leadership.”

Despite this setback, his rallies continued to draw massive crowds and many voters that Scroll met remained firm in their support for him. Often, they did not offer clear explanations for why they favoured him, and just said they wanted “maatram”, or change.

For instance, three young men from Perumbur, registered to vote in the neighbouring constituency of Thiru-Vi-ka nagar, said they would be voting for Vijay this year, but did not say why. Asij AJ, a 20-year-old two-wheeler mechanic from Perumbur, also said he would vote for TVK, noting only that “DMK has done good work but I want a change, so I prefer Vijay’s party”.

Ashwin V, a 25-year-old from Perumbur, noted, “It’s only a matter of five years, if he does badly, we will vote him out in the next elections.”

Some older voters expressed scepticism about the enthusiasm of the younger voters. Imran Ali, the sales representative, said he was aware that a lot of young people in the constituency were planning on voting for Vijay’s party. But he argued, “They don’t understand politics and are simply supporting him because they are his fans.”

His friend concurred. “I was here when Vijay came for his rally and saw the young people following him, I know that half of them don’t even have their voter IDs.”

But some young voters dismissed such criticisms, and noted that they had become interested in politics because of Vijay’s entry. “Nobody should say that we are Vijay’s supporters and know nothing about politics,” said 26-year-old Karthika, a resident of Villivakam.