Tamil films’ superstar, Vijay, romped home victorious when his party got a 108-seat victory in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections today (5th May). The victory may not have been completely unexpected but winning with such a large number of seats was indeed a surprise. The extraordinary win makes Vijay a strong contender for the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s chair.
The victory of Vijay, who is fondly known as Thalapathy (meaning ‘Leader’), reminds one of the initiation of MGR into Tamil Nadu politics. Like MGR, Vijay also stepped into the political arena after a supremely successful stint in acting. However, unlike MGR, Vijay played all kinds of roles in films. On his part, M.G. Ramachandran never touched cigarettes or alcohol on screen. Vijay started out as a child actor, then went on to do remantic films and ultimately became an action hero. With his father, noted filmmaker S.A. Chandrahekgar, to back him in the initial days of his acting career, Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar came in the top league with … A college dropout, Vijay has promised free higher education to children of poor farmers in the state, which was one big election promise his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party made to the voters. Vijay positioned this promise as both, economic support and a long-term investment in youth.
As the single largest party, Vijay’s TVK is likely to be invited by the governor to form the government, even if it begins as a minority administration. Party insiders remain confident of securing outside support.