Vijay’s First Political Speech: A Call for Change in Tamil Nadu

Tamil superstar Thalapathy Vijay, who announced his political party ‘Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’ earlier this year in February, addressed his first ever public gathering this Sunday afternoon at Vikravandi’s V Salai in Villupuram which saw a humongous turnout of more than 5 lakhs as per media sources.

The meeting commenced with the announcement of the party’s key principles and ideologies. TVK aims to create an equitable society whilst advocating secularism, state autonomy, inclusiveness, two-language policy, anti-corruption, rejection of regressive ideas and making Tamil Nadu a drug-free state.

Vijay started his speech with a huge roar amidst thunderous applause from his supporters. He candidly admitted that TVK is like child who can play with a snake ( politics) with confidence and promised to travel by the paths laid by greats like EV Rama Swamy, BR Ambedkar, K Kamaraj, Velu Nachair and Anjalai Ammal.

Vijay then made a bold statement when he criticised the DMK and the BJP by finding fault with the existing governance model. He said ” You fool the people running an anti-people government by calling it the Dravidian model”.

Vijay said Women are going to play a vital role in his political journey and recalled the suicide of Ariyalur student Anitha who died over NEET issue. Reacting to critics who call him an artiste, Vijay drew a parallel to late MGR and NTR who achieved big in the politics of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Vijay took a direct dig at DMK when he said one family is looting the state by doing underground dealing. He said that he had left his career as an actor and his earnings to join politics with the trust of the people to serve them.

The actor-turned-politician claimed Vijay said that TVK is going to separate Dravidian Nationalism and Tamil Nationalism and added they are two like eyes of this soil. “We shouldn’t shrink ourselves to any specific identity”, added Vijay.

Further challenging the DMK’s narrative on BJP at the Centre, Vijay questioned their characterization of the BJP as fascist. He said “You criticize the BJP by calling it fascist, but are you any better?”

Vijay finally ended his speech by stating that his party is confident that the people will make TVK win by giving them a majority. “However, some people may want to travel with us; such a political situation may arise. Therefore, should we not embrace them?” he asked. Interestingly, he didn’t project himself as a single player as he is willing to go in alliance if necessary.

Overall, Vijay’s maiden political speech has all ingredients that are usually expected from his films. Besides unveiling the objective of his party, he didn’t mince words in attacking his opponents while not sparing the BJP at the centre.