Confident of his fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) making a mark in the 2026 assembly poll in Tamil Nadu, party’s founder president and actor Vijay on Wednesday predicted that the election would prove a watershed moment in the political history of the state as in 1967 and 1977.
“2026 assembly election will prove to be different and a harbinger of change. It will catapult new players to the top by bringing the established ones down as it happened in 1967 and in 1977. We are confident about that,” the actor-tuned neta said addressing TVK functionaries after launching the ‘MYTVK’ mobile application for party membership drive at Panaiyur on the outskirts of Chennai.
The actor drew parallels with the DMK and the AIADMK to drive home the point that hard work would ensure the electorate’s trust and yield electoral success. In 1967, the DMK under the leadership of the legendary CN Annadurai had dethroned Congress, the first regional party to achieve that feat. Since then, no national party could come to power in the Dravidian heartland. Then, it was the turn of the iconic MG Ramachandran, founder of the AIADMK, to crush the DMK under M Karunanidhi and emerge victorious in 1977. While the DMK was launched in 1949, MGR had formed the AIADMK in 1972.
“Newcommers have defeated those who have tasted victory successively in 1967 and in 1977. Those elections have proved to be game changers and turning points in the political history of the state. 2026 too will bring a change. For that we have to follow the footsteps of Anna (CN Annadurai) and meet the people. Victory has stood by those who have gone to the people and learnt from them. It is enough if we properly follow Anna’s dictum of ‘go to the people and live with them’. We are with the people and the people are with us. Let us carry out a door to door campaign from city to city,” he said, adding, “We will meet at the Madurai state conference.”
The second state conference of the party is slated for August 25 and preparations are afoot for the same. The first conference was held in October last in Villupuram, during which Vijay had identified twin enemies of the party: while the ruling DMK in the state is the political enemy, the BJP at the helm in the Centre is the ideological enemy. The Madurai conference is held in the backdrop of the TVK having declared Vijay as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate.