Vijay has identified his rivals: Divisive politicians who are ruining the country, and a selfish family group that is exploiting and looting Tamil Nadu. But will it attract the youth to TVK?
Published Nov 06, 2024 | 8:14 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 07, 2024 | 10:54 AM
Political pundits feel Vijay's TVK may not eat into the vote banks of major political parties.
Actor Vijay, who launched his political outfit the Tamilaga Vettri Kalagam (TVK), has identified the BJP as the ideological opponent and the DMK as a political rival.
Addressing the TVK’s first state conference at Vikravandi on 27 October, Vijay outlined the basic principles of his party, besides revealing his rivals.
“The first enemy of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is the divisive politicians who are ruining the country. The next enemy is a selfish family group that is exploiting and looting Tamil Nadu in the name of Periyar and Anna, and in the guise of Dravida model of governance,” he said.
Vijay’s statement created a flutter with DMK ministers and several others criticising TVK. However, political pundits felt despite the visible rivalry, the TVK would not be a formidable enemy to the DMK, and Vijay could not split its votes. Additionally, TVK has not tested its strength in electoral politics.
However, Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a debate over the party that would be affected by the TVK.
Virudhunagar Congress MP Manikam Tagore felt Vijay’s political debut would affect the support of Senthamizhan Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi since first-time voters form the major chunk of its support base. “Those voting for the first time may prefer Vijay,” the lawmaker said.
Tagore added that Vijay should look at formulating the policy, resolutions, and political activities of his party.
“Vijay’s arrival will not affect the DMK alliance or the Congress vote bank,” the MP said.
Greater Chennai Corporation Counsellor and VCK leader Shanthi aka Yazhini referred to Vijay’s open invitation for an alliance. “The parties will take a decision on the alliance only if he proves his vote bank,” she said.
Shanthi added that the DMK-led alliance is strong, and ruled out the chances of the youth in her party supporting Vijay. “They are politically motivated,” she said.
Political analyst Bhaskaran Krishnamoorthy concurred that the youth would form Vijay’s vote bank. “Young people are mostly in VCK, and Naam Tamilar, and a section is supporting BJP’s Annamalai. There is no chance of them supporting the TVK,” he said.
“AIADMK does not have leaders who can attract the youth. The youth vote bank is largely absent there. DMK is promoting Udhayanidhi Stalin. Thus, TVK will not affect the big parties. After Vijayakanth’s death, there is no vote bank to speak of in DMDK,” he said.
B Parthasarathy, a former MLA from Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) said people joined the party due to Vijayakanth, they won’t go to the TVK. Though the DMDK had contested in 60 segments in 2021, it did not win even a single seat. It has to be satisfied with 0.4% of the vote share.
Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) is unimpressed with Vijay. State secretary of NTK’s advocate wing, Shankar, said, “TVK will not bring any change in Tamil Nadu. Vijay has taken the policies of the existing parties.”
However, TVK leader Sathyanand Rajendran the party has been receiving positive response from the public, and they want to give the party a chance in the next election.
He added the turnout of young voters was 90% in 2021, and a majority of them voted for the DMK. The same electorate would support the TVK in 2026, he added. Rajendran further said that considering the warm relationship between Rahul Gandhi and Vijay, the youth in the Congress, too, would vote for TVK.
He further claimed that many in the VCK, too, would favour the new political party. However, he predicted that TVK would pose a challenge to the DMK.
In 2021, the DMK won 133 of the 188 constituencies contested with a total vote share of 38%. The AIADMK which contested 191 constituencies and won 66, ended up with a vote share of 33.5%.
The BJP, in alliance with the AIADMK, won four of the 20 contested constituencies and grabbed 2.6% of the vote share, lesser than the PMK’s share of 3.8%. The Congress’s vote share was 4.3% in 2021. Though Naam Tamilar did not win any seat, its vote share was 6.6%, higher than the BJP and Congress’s shares.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
