For Periyar-Ambedkar-Kamaraj and against BJP, DMK: How Vijay defined TVK’s politics

CHENNAI: Positioning the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) as the alternative force in Tamil Nadu politics, Vijay in his speech at the party’s first State conference on Sunday referred to the BJP as its ideological enemy while the DMK its political adversary.

Declaring war against the BJP and the DMK, Vijay said, "There is a group that has been creating divisions among the society. The ones who are creating divisions are our first enemy. The ones who are claiming Dravidian ideology but are looting Tamil Nadu as a family are our next rivals," he said in an indirect reference to the two parties ruling the Centre and Tamil Nadu.

The actor-politician announced that the TVK would contest all 234 seats in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, declaring there would be no retreat or rethinking. “At any cost, there will be no compromise in our political battle. Till our goal is reached, we will burn like fire.”

Lobbing a curveball in the political space where share in power has been an issue between the DMK and its allies, Vijay said, “We will share power with those who come with us.”

Defining itself as a progressive party, Vijay said the TVK would follow in the path of late stalwarts Periyar, K Kamaraj, BR Ambedkar, Velu Nachiyar, and Anjalai Ammal, calling them the party’s ‘guiding spirits.’

"Our guiding spirits are the ones who lived in this land. This includes Periyar. I know there will be some who will question that choice. We won't adopt his atheism; we aren't against anyone's beliefs. But from social justice, rationalism, and women empowerment, we will adopt all other ideas that Periyar propounded. Then K Kamaraj, then BR Ambedkar. We are proudly proclaiming Ambedkar as a guiding spirit for reservation and for striving to end caste discrimination. Then braveheart Velu Nachiyar. Then comes Anjalai Ammal," Vijay said.

The TVK chief summed up the party’s main governance goals as shelter, food and security. “The highlights of TVK's action plan are: protection for children, women and elders; equitable education, and all basic facilities; and proportional representation, for which caste census is necessary,” he said.

Schemes should not just be slogans but should actually benefit people, he added, with the inclusive slogan ‘ellorukkum ellam’ which translates to ‘everything is for everyone’. “Just by saying there is rice, people's hunger won't end, we have to give them rice,” Vijay quipped, seeking to underscore his party’s commitment to social welfare measures.

Vijay also lambasted the rivals whom he termed as corrupt and those who merely issue slogans of change, saying that the TVK would go beyond speeches and prove itself with its action. “We are being lorded over by the corrupt who are hiding behind masks of ideology…Our ideology should be real and true. Not merely slogans of politics of change. We have to free the land from the grip of those who have it in their control.”

Later, an emotionally-charged Vijay remarked that those who called actors who turned politicians 'koothadis' (derogatory word used to refer to actors; a slur on the nomadic street artiste community) forget that koothu (art form) is an inherent part of Tamil culture and pride. He said, "Film is not just dance and songs. It is a tool for social change. Isn't that how the DMK itself grew,” he questioned.

"'Koothadi' is not a slur or an insult. Koothu will speak values, politics, truth... nobody will understand the sadness and anger that is inside a 'koothadi'/artiste," Vijay asserted, adding that he is also a 'koothadi' who has come to the top through sheer effort and toil.

"The public connects with ‘Koothadi’ because he is one of them. When I came to the field, they insulted me about my looks, my skin colour, my hair. But I persisted. I didn't give up. That is how I came up…At every stage, we undergo transformation. From an average boy to an actor to a responsible adult to a socially conscious man to a political cadre. Tomorrow? It is not my call, it is that of the people," he said.