Vijay pulls no punches in maiden speech as politician

VILLUPURAM: For social justice and rationalism, caste survey and reservation, and welfarism. Against communalism, corruption, and dynastic politics. Eight months after he announced the formation of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, actor-politician Vijay positioned his nascent outfit as an ideological mix of popular politics in Tamil Nadu, ticking the right boxes in both for and against columns.

In his first public speech as a politician at the TVK’s maiden State public conference in Villupuram on Sunday, Vijay also identified the rivals whom his party would fight.

Vijay did not name names. He didn’t have to. His reference to ‘those who create divisions in the society’ was widely understood to be a thinly veiled attack on the Centre-ruling BJP. They were TVK’s ideological enemies, he said. Next were the political rivals, the ones who wore the mask of Dravidian model to loot the public. That reference to the State-ruling DMK did not even wear a veil.

Also Read: DMK, allies send out cautious yet mixed reactions to Vijay’s speech at TVK conference

Listing the party’s guiding spirits, Vijay named Periyar first. “I know there will be some who will question that choice. We won't adopt Periyar’s atheism; we aren't against anyone's religious beliefs. But we will adopt social justice, rationalism, and women empowerment that Periyar propounded,” he said.

The other leaders he named were K Kamaraj, BR Ambedkar, Velu Nachiyar, and Anjalai Ammal. The party was proudly proclaiming Ambedkar as an idol, as he brought in reservation and strove to end casteist discrimination, Vijay stressed in his speech.

Vijay lambasted the rivals whom he termed as corrupt leaders who merely issued slogans of change, saying that the TVK would go beyond speeches and prove itself with 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,” he told the thousands who had gathered at V Salai village.

Even as he moored his party’s ideology along the familiar shores in Tamil Nadu politics, Vijay stressed two aspects that stood out. One was caste survey that several parties here have been seeking. But what made his demand stand out was that he did not stop with the survey, but went on to seek proportional representation, which means each caste would get the number of elected representatives based on its population.

It was an idea that Ambedkar had propounded decades ago but found little support from fellow stalwarts. “For this to be implemented, we need a caste survey,” he said.

The second was what he termed a political bombshell: share in power for the parties who aligned with TVK. The target was clearly the ruling DMK, which had recently brushed off the demand for power sharing raised by allies like Congress and VCK.

Propounding welfarism as the governance guide light, he insisted that welfare schemes should not remain as slogans but should actually benefit people. “We believe in ‘ellorukkum ellam’ (everything is for everyone). Just by saying there is rice, people's hunger won't end; we have to give them rice,” Vijay quipped.

Stung by the ridicule that he was just a ‘koothadi’ (a slur originally used to refer to the nomadic street artiste community, which was later used to refer to actors), he said those who say that forget that koothu is an inherent part of Tamil culture and pride.

"Films are not just about 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. Those artistes spoke about values, politics, truth... Nobody will understand the sadness and anger that is inside a 'koothadi'," Vijay asserted.

"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,” he said. "Tomorrow," he asked with a pause, which was a signal for the people to respond ‘Chief Minister'. “It is not my call, it is that of the people," he said in a carefully crafted display of humility.

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.”