People will campaign for Vijay, he needn't: TVK shrugs off DMK's barbs

Hitting back at charges that Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) are “inaccessible” to the people, the party’s spokesperson delivered a punchline straight out of a blockbuster, “When a political tsunami happens, people will campaign for the leader. The leader need not campaign for the people.”

TVK spokesperson Felix Gerald predicted that people would go to polling booths the night before voting and wait in queues to cast their votes for Vijay in the upcoming Assembly elections, asserting that a “political tsunami” unseen in the last 50 years is underway in the state.

He described the upcoming election as a “phenomenon that happens once in 50 years” and compared Vijay to the likes of MG Ramachandran, calling him the only factor dominating Tamil Nadu’s political landscape.

Gerald claimed Vijay is “completely caste and religion neutral,” committed to his ideology with “zero compromise,” and said there will be “no more major Dravidian parties,” describing them as “minors, giants not anymore.”

He also asserted that TVK has unmatched organisational strength, with more than 70,000 booth-level workers and over three lakh office bearers across the state.

According to him, 50 per cent of two crore women voters and 70 per cent of 1.25 crore young voters are with TVK.

Responding to the TVK spokesperson's claims, DMK spokesperson Salem Dharanidharan said the party is not worried about any competitor, asserting that Chief Minister MK Stalin has performed on all fronts.

He argued that “TVK without Vijay is 0” and maintained that a political organisation cannot run on one person alone. He cited the Karur stampede as evidence of a lack of grassroots cadre and questioned Vijay’s accessibility, asking how he would stay connected with voters if they cannot reach him. “Charisma alone will not take him along if there is inaccessibility,” he said.

TVK hit back, accusing the DMK of preventing Vijay from reaching the public. “You’re crippling him. You’re not giving him permission to come out,” Gerald said.

In response, the DMK spokesperson countered that no stampede resulting in 41 deaths had occurred in the past four to five decades during campaigns by other parties, including AIADMK, BJP and Congress, defending imposing conditions on Vijay’s rallies.

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Vinoj P Selvam described the election as a two-cornered contest between the NDA+ and the DMK, downplaying TVK’s claims of a political wave. He further said that politics is not meant for actors still living a celebrity lifestyle behind high-walled mansions, but is about stepping out and listening to people’s problems.