Politics · India Bureau
Vijay frames TVK as natural AIADMK successor amid Dharapuram bypoll
Actor-politician Vijay positioned his Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam as the ideological heir to the AIADMK while campaigning in Dharapuram, defending his party's candidate who recently switched allegiance from the regional rival.
LSN India ·
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's political rival Vijay addressed a campaign rally in Dharapuram on Wednesday, seeking to legitimise the TVK's emergence as a successor movement to the AIADMK, which has dominated the state's electoral landscape for decades.
Addressing supporters at the bypoll campaign event, Vijay drew comparisons to the leadership legacies of two former chief ministers—M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa—who shaped the AIADMK's rise to prominence and its continued competition with the DMK.
The actor-turned-politician's remarks came as he defended his party's candidate in the Dharapuram assembly bypoll, a contender who recently defected from the AIADMK to contest under the TVK banner. The shift underscores the evolving political realignment in Tamil Nadu's traditional two-party system.
Vijay's campaign pitch emphasises the TVK's ability to consolidate anti-DMK sentiment and reclaim voter bases traditionally associated with the AIADMK, positioning his nascent party as a viable alternative to Stalin's ruling alliance ahead of the state assembly elections.