Vijay’s TVK sheds inhibition, appropriates Dravidian icon Anna and AIADMK founder MGR

Shedding its initial inhibition of appropriating icons of other parties, especially from the DMK and the AIADMK, the fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of popular actor Vijay, has started using them ahead of the party’s second state conference with an eye on the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

As part of a publicity blitzkrieg for the mega jamboree in Madurai on Thursday (August 21) Tomorrow, the party has released a poster featuring Vijay along with Anna, DMK founder and former Chief Minister, and MGR, MG Ramachandran the matinee icon who launched the AIADMK and became the Chief Minister. While holding Dravidian icon ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy, as the TVK’s ideological guiding light and Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister K Kamaraj, as its inspiration as his rule considered a golden era of Tamil Nadu, the party had thus far avoided these two leaders in the propaganda material on the ground that they were founders of other parties and also to keep its distinctive identity.

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But the party appears to poach the supporters of the late matinee icon, who are disillusioned with the AIADMK led by Edappadi K Palaniswami and its other splinter groups. On the other hand, appropriating Anna is a direct challenge to the DMK not only on the ideological but on organisational level to target the DMK of perpetuating dynastic politics, observe analysts. It would help Vijay, a charismatic actor also from the film industry, to project himself as the heir of MGR. Now, he has no rival in J Jayalalithaa, who succeeded her mentor to lead the AIADMK successfully with an iron hand.

In his keenly awaited address at the conference, Vijay is expected to stick to his earlier stance of taking on the BJP and DMK together. At the first state conference in October last, Vijay had identified the BJP as the party’s ideological enemy and the DMK as its political enemy. He had also lured the allies of the DMK with the carrot of coalition government, which is an anathema to the two dominant Dravidian parties, the DMK and AIADMK, which have ruled the state alternately since 1967. And of late he has been claiming that the TVK would usher in a political revolution as in 1967, when Anna trounced the Congress and ascended to power and 1977 when MGR, who defeated the DMK to become Chief Minister. No wonder, Vijay had chosen to appropriate the two icons as the state had moved from bipolarity to multipolarity.

Expected to be a springboard for the party to face the 2026 assembly election just 8 to 9 months away, the conference at Paraipathi, in Madurai district, about 470 km from Chennai, is expected to draw more than 5 lakh people. The temple city as well as Paraipathi village, about 20 km from the city wore a festive look with banners, festoons and posters at every nook and corner.