Chennai: The entry of actor-turned-politician Vijay, popularly known as ‘Thalapathy’ or commander, into Tamil Nadu politics with his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has caused a stir among the two major Dravidian parties of the state on the potential erosion of their own vote-banks, especially the youth vote-bank.
Keeping the Vijay factor in mind, the major political parties, the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), BJP ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and DMK ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), have revived plans to reach out to youth.
While the DMK has planned to organise a series of activities ahead of its youth wing leader and deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s birthday later this month, the AIADMK has decided to organise district-level youth wing and IT wing programmes to keep up the enthusiasm of cadres for the 2026 assembly election.
Although Vijay may not be a game-changer, political analysts in the state believe he may sway voters disillusioned with traditional politics.
“They are the first-time voters and young voters. Both Dravidian parties may be at risk of losing their vote-bank, but depending upon who is going to lose more and who is going to lose less, it would inadvertently benefit one of the two major Dravidian parties. In any case, the parties are a bit worried about the erosion of their vote share,” political commentator Raveendran Duraisamy told ThePrint.
On record, all political parties have maintained that any exercise to woo young voters was part of their routine activities irrespective of external factors, including Vijay’s political plunge.
Speaking to ThePrint, DMK’s organising secretary R.S. Bharathi said the party need not be worried about any smaller and newer parties since the cadres had seen all kinds of opponents.
“It is a routine exercise of the party to boost the contribution of youngsters in the party and it has nothing to do with Vijay,” he said.
However, a senior leader at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam told ThePrint that a section of party leaders were anxious about the crowd gathered at Vikravandi, a small town near capital Chennai where Vijay last month held TVK’s maiden political conference.
Grassroots-level workers of the PMK and VCK were also of the same opinion since Vikravandi of Viluppuram locality, part of the northern district, is considered a stronghold of both the PMK and VCK.
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Plans to draw youth
The DMK plans to conduct a series of welfare activities, sports and games events for youth and students ahead of Udhayanidhi’s birthday on 27 November when he will turn 47.
Speaking to ThePrint, a district-level DMK youth wing functionary from the western region of Tamil Nadu said the wing has been opening a library in every district, according to instructions from party president and Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin.
“On the eve of Udhayanidhi’s birthday, books and study material would be distributed to UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) and TNPSC (Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission) aspirants studying at these libraries,” the functionary said.
In certain pockets of the state, youth wing functionaries have already begun conducting sports events, including bike and cycle races, for which prizes would be distributed on the eve of Udhayanidhi’s birthday. In a few places, the youth wing functionaries are organising blood donation camps.
In the AIADMK, which has few youth leaders, general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has asked IT wing members to reach out to the youth.
“Let it be via photos or videos, he has asked the team to be more creative to attract youth into the party,” a senior IT wing leader told ThePrint.
Another IT wing functionary from Coimbatore said the wing was in search of enthusiastic youngsters who could contribute to it as well as the AIADMK and attract others.
“People handling the IT wing and the grassroots-level AIADMK cadres are all at least 40 years old. So, if we bring in more young blood into the IT wing, they will in turn attract more youngsters into the wing as well as the party,” the functionary said.
In an internal meeting with IT wing functionaries of the AIADMK on 1 October, Palaniswami told the cadres that there was a dip in the party’s vote share by 10-15 percent because of the demise of aged cadres who were all staunch supporters of former CM and party founder M.G. Ramachandran.
“He also told us to criticise only the DMK and BJP. But, after Vijay’s entry, we have been asked to work hard to attract youngsters and to retain the existing youth support for the party,” the AIADMK functionary from Coimbatore said.
Concern and caution
While Duraisamy believes the main Tamil Nadu parties are worried about their youth vote-bank, political analyst N. Sathiya Moorthy seeks to excuse the DMK from the list since the party has constantly been inducting young blood.
“It is not the first time. Even when the DMK was not in power for 13 years after 1976, it was the youth wing led by M.K. Stalin that kept the party alive. Now also, they have identified the next leader and Udhayanidhi is getting more traction. He is trying to keep his party alive through various activities. This cannot be seen as an effect of Vijay,” he said.
He did admit though that the entry of Vijay into state politics could harm the Dravidian parties including the DMK and could also hurt the PMK and VCK more, as Vijay’s conference was held in Viluppuram district, a stronghold of the latter two parties.
“The crowd gathered at Vijay’s conference was mostly young and most people were from the northern part of Tamil Nadu, where the PMK and VCK are considered to be strong. This crowd has made the PMK and VCK worry about their vote share,” he said.
The concern was evident when PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, while talking to reporters last week, sought the support of youth.
VCK general secretary Sinthanai Selvan, on his part, said there would not be any loss of vote share since it was a cadre-based party.
Duraisamy believes Vijay’s appeal to first-time voters with themes like anti-corruption, secularism and social justice was the reason behind other political parties’ increased focus on youth engagement.
Vijay’s political foray thus seems to be seen with a mix of caution and strategic recalibration of campaign strategies by existing political parties in Tamil Nadu. Whether these jitters translate into significant vote share shifts will largely depend on how the TVK evolves over time before the 2026 assembly election.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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