‘Thalapathy’ Vijay is busy reading Ambedkar as his party plans to lean Left of Centre. Right’s a no go

The Tamil film star is set to declare his party’s ideology & vision to the public at a conference later this month, likely to be guided by Ambedkar, Periyar & Kamarajar’s works.

Vijay unveiling his party's flag and symbol in August | ANI

Chennai: As Tamil film star ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay, who announced his entry into politics earlier this year, gears up for his first ever political conference, speculation is rife about how he will present the ideology, vision and promises of his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), to the masses.

ThePrint has learnt that Vijay has asked his party cadre to take a Left-of-Centre stance, and venerate B.R. Ambedkar, Periyar and K. Kamaraj, the former chief minister of Madras State, as the party’s primary sources of ideological inspiration.

It is also learnt that Vijay is avidly studying Ambedkar’s works to deepen his understanding of the political landscape ahead of the first conference.

A TVK functionary told ThePrint that Vijay is currently reading the book Ambedkar Indrum Endrum (Ambedkar Today and Forever), a compilation of Ambedkar’s works. “He will finish the book before he heads for the conference,” the functionary said, adding that the actor-politician is keen on not leaving any loopholes for criticism of his ideology.

TVK spokesperson Jagadeeswaran also said that Vijay had been spending a lot of time reading ever since he decided to enter politics. “Even before the announcement, he had been meeting with a lot of people with expertise in different fields, including education and politics. He collects books related to the subjects, and then, after analysing the pros and cons of the issues, he arrives at a conclusion,” he added.

Vijay spoke up about a policy issue for the first time in July, when he called for the abolishment of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), demanding that education be moved to the State List from the Concurrent List. He said that the implementation of NEET went against the rights of state governments and put students from rural and underprivileged backgrounds at a disadvantage.

The functionary quoted above recalled how Vijay arrived at the decision to oppose the NEET examination for admission to medical courses.

“Though he is close to students, he did not take the decision just because of the love he has for children. He consulted with a retired judge, a senior educationist and a students’ union member to understand the issue better. Later, he read the A.K. Rajan Committee (constituted to study the impact of NEET) report, and then, he arrived at the decision,” the functionary said.

However, political commentators in Tamil Nadu have accused him of treating politics like his movie releases. “It’s been six months and he has not come out with what he has in store for the people. Just like the sequence of a film release starting with the teaser, the trailer, and then the movie and behind-the scenes-clips, he launched his party, the party flag and then came the conference announcement,” says Ramu Manivannan, former head and professor of Department of Politics and Public Administration at Madras University.

Jagadeeswaran said that Vijay will begin actively participating in politics soon after the party conference, likely to be held on 23 September.

 

From ‘fans’ to ‘comrades’

Vijay had announced the formation of the TVK in a post on X on 2 February, 2024. He had said that he would present the party’s ideology, principles and his plans at the time of the party’s conference after the Election Commission’s approval.

However, he first hinted at his political stance by addressing the party cadre as “comrades” in a letter just a day after TVK’s launch. Vijay has been known to address his fans as “En Nenjil Kudiyirukkum Rasigargal (Fans who live in my heart)”. In this letter, which was posted on X, he addressed his followers as “En Nenjil Kudiyirukkum Thozhargal (Comrades who live in my heart)”.

“It was used intentionally after deep thought. He knows what it means and he wants to take the ideology propagated by great thinkers, like Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, to the common people,” said Ramkumar, another TVK spokesperson. 

Jagadeeswaran explained that Vijay had made it clear to his party’s key functionaries that they were definitely not going to take a Far-Right stance.

“Right or Extreme Right would always go against the people of this state. Though he did not want us to reveal the ideology explicitly before the conference, he had made it clear that we would not take the Right stance,” he said.

Be it social media or public spaces, Vijay has instructed his party members not to indulge in personal attacks against any party or leader as his fans may not appreciate it.

“He is cautious. Such behaviour would lead to the criticism that this is the standard of a political party started by an actor. He does not want us to behave like a fan who whistles and claps at the first-day-first-show of his film. He wants us to behave politely during an argument,” said Ramkumar.

Jagadeeswaran also said that he was asked not to oppose any of the political parties in Tamil Nadu, except the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“There is no personal enmity against the two parties. But they are the ruling parties in the state and at the Centre. So, our leader has asked us to just counter them, and participate in debates and arguments in a more disciplined manner, even if they attack him personally,” he added.

As a prelude to the conference later this month, Vijay unveiled the party flag at the TVK headquarters in Panaiyur on the outskirts of Chennai. It has two red-coloured bands with a yellow-coloured band between them. In the middle of the flag is a flower surrounded by 28 stars and two elephants facing each other.

However, Vijay has not explained the symbolism of the flag yet. Political expert Manivannan criticised him for leaving it to the people to decode the flag, instead of explaining what the colours and symbols in it actually mean.

“He is exploiting the fanfare earned via his movies for other purposes. Maintaining suspense like in the movies won’t help. People would want to know what he knows, what he stands for and what his vision for the people is,” he said.

Another senior functionary in the party, who did not wish to be named, revealed that Vijay asked him about the response to the flag after it was unveiled.

“We told him that we were being criticised for not revealing the details of the symbols in the flag. He explained to us that the unveiling was originally planned for the day of the conference. However, he wanted the people at the conference to carry the party flag, so that it would reach more people,” the functionary told ThePrint.

He added that Vijay wanted to explain it himself to the people, instead of making the announcement to the media.

 

Films & political undertones

While political commentators in the state have criticised Vijay for being indifferent to people’s rights before his political foray, Karthikeyan Damodaran, author of Madurai Formula Films: Caste Pride and Politics, said that Vijay’s political connections date back to 2004, when his film Ghilli was released.

In the film, Vijay played the character of Velu, a police officer’s son who goes to Madurai from Chennai for a Kabaddi match and ends up fighting with Prakash Raj’s character, a local leader from a dominant-caste group, to rescue Trisha’s character.

“It was assumed that the film portrayed a local leader from a dominant caste defeating a person from Chennai. Dominant-caste groups in the southern region were against Vijay. Slowly, his fan base started moving along caste lines, which was evident in the southern districts,” Karthikeyan said.

Though Vijay was never vocal about his plans to enter politics, his movies have always had political undertones.

In Pokkiri (2007), the lyrics of a song —“Cheeri Ila Oorukulla Poraka Venum Pera Pulla (grandchildren should be born in the city without slums)” and “Theepandham Eduthu Theendamai Kozhuthu (Take the torch fed with oil and burn the untouchability)—refer to ending caste-based discrimination.

Even now, he is all for social justice, Jagadeeswaran said.

According to the spokesperson, the five functionaries—state secretary, joint secretary, two deputy secretaries and a treasurer—comprise representatives from minority communities, Scheduled Castes, forward castes, Other Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes.

However, political commentator Sathiya Moorthy said that the real challenge for him will be to position himself in day-to-day politics with the ideology he declares in the conference.

“It is not at all about the written ideology. But how he follows the same, survives and grows is what matters. Since he sounds Left-of-Centre, it may not be easy for him to occupy a position in the state, since the space is already crowded,” he said.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)