Will Vijay succeed where many others could not?
With actor Vijay formalising his entry into politics by launching his party’s flag and song, the question remains whether he will be able to succeed where many others couldn’t: creating a credible alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK.
Ever since AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran made his party the principal adversary to the DMK in the 1970s, several players made many attempts in the last 50-odd years to develop a formation that would dismantle the bipolar system.
The latest bid was made by the BJP, which created a coalition under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. But the NDA drew a blank, though it polled 18.27% of the votes and dislodged the AIADMK from the second slot in 12 out of the 39 constituencies.
A cross-section of politicians and political observers points out that Mr. Vijay’s party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), is an untested force, and its founder is an “unknown person” as far as his stand on critical issues is concerned. The pledge administered by him on Thursday appeared to subscribe the party to the principle of generality.
Comparing him with MGR and DMDK founder Vijayakant, a senior member of the ruling DMK says MGR had a long record in politics, initially in the Congress and then in the DMK, before forming his own party. He also had the image of a “friend of the poor”. Vijaykant, too, was involved in philanthropy and helped many members of the Tamil film industry. “But, in Mr. Vijay’s case, you can’t find any such quality, though he has, in recent years, given assistance to students,” the DMK member says.
However, veteran academic G. Palanithurai and former Villivakkam MLA J.C.D. Prabhakar say the entry of the actor into politics will have an impact on sections of the voters, especially the youth, who are “yearning for a change”. But Professor Palanithurai says that over the years, welfarism has turned regressive and not progressive. One has to wait and watch whether the TVK’s policy will be different from the “reliance on doles for political survival instead of addressing substantive issues”.
Politicians and observers differ on the TVK’s impact on the vote share of the existing parties. Some say that as Mr. Vijay’s appeal will be widespread, all major parties will be affected. But others say that for the time being, he has to take an anti-establishment stand. This means there will be fragmentation of the anti-DMK vote which will, in turn, favour the ruling party.
It will be a different game if Mr. Vijay chooses to join hands with either of the major Dravidian parties, as K. Pawan Kalyan of the Jana Sena Party did in Andhra Pradesh by striking an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party and the BJP and romping home in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Mr. Kalyan is now the Deputy Chief Minister.
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