Chennai: The Election Commission of India has allotted the whistle as the official election symbol for the actor-turned politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Thursday.
In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, the Election Commission of India has stated that they have allocated a whistle as a common symbol in all the assembly constituencies in the State.
Reacting to it, Deputy General Secretary of TVK Nirmalkumar told the media that it is a symbol of the people.
“Visil (Tamil word for whistle) is a symbol of victory. It is a people’s symbol, and we will take it to the people easily. It is the first step towards our victory in the 2026 assembly election,” Nirmalkumar told the reporters in Chennai.
Whistle carries strong cultural resonance among Vijay’s followers, for whom the sound has long functioned as a marker of celebration, assertion, and mass emotion at the theatres during the release of Vijay’s movies.
Vijay and his association with Visil are deeply rooted in his cinematic universe.
One of his most popular films, Bigil (2019), itself derives its title from the Tamil word ‘visil’, commonly used in street and sporting slang to describe a loud whistle. The film, centred around leadership and social responsibility, cemented the whistle as a recurring metaphor in Vijay’s on-screen persona.
Visil resurfaced more recently in The Greatest of All Time (GOAT, 2024), directed by Venkat Prabhu. The ‘Whistle Podu’ song—beginning with “Shall I start one party…” (Party Naan thodangatuma…)—uses the whistle prominently as both a rhythmic and symbolic cue. The song was sung by Vijay himself both on screen and off-screen.
With the Election Commission’s decision, what was once a cinematic signature has now entered the political domain.
TVK insiders told ThePrint that the symbol was Vijay’s personal choice. “The whistle represents alertness, vigilance and the right of citizens to question power, aligning with the party’s opposition to corruption, dynastic politics and entrenched structures. It has been in Thalapathy’s mind for a long time,” said the insider, requesting anonymity.
Political observers note that the choice of symbol — whether intentional or coincidental — strengthens the continuity between Vijay’s screen image and his political messaging.
“Vijay has been familiarising the whistle through his movie names and songs in the movies. It was a much-anticipated one among his followers, and it would reach more people since the symbol was allocated months before the election. Similarly, the whistle symbol is chosen by anti-corruption activists who contest as independents, so that shade is also there for the symbol,” political analyst Arunkumar told ThePrint.
(Edited by Varnika Dhawan)