Chennai: Gearing up for his newly launched Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)’s debut in the 2026 assembly elections, actor-politician Vijay is planning to go on a padayatra covering all districts of Tamil Nadu in early 2025.
TVK functionary R. Ramkumar said the yatra would start once Vijay returns from the ongoing shooting of his next film.
“We are now finalising the locations and time. There are many safety concerns as well. He is no ordinary person. So, we have to figure out whether he will stay in the vehicle or step out into the streets,” Ramkumar said.
A week after the party’s first conference in Villupuram’s Vikravandi, where the popular actor addressed a crowd of lakhs—mostly young people—TVK functionaries told ThePrint that they were now working on strengthening the party’s organisational structure across the state by appointing district leaders and setting up an IT wing.
The leaders said Vijay would be directly engaging with the media on state issues and party matters once he returns from the film set.
“Before the maanadu (conference), everyone was guessing how politician Vijay would be or who youngsters would vote for. After his speech, everyone is clear about these things, including the fact that our party has the potential make a huge impact on the state, provided we work for the people,” said TVK spokesperson D. Jagadheeswaran.
He added that the party will not be conducting any big events immediately but will start working on outreach measures in districts. He said the district functionaries, drawn from members of the actor’s fan club Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI), have been selected and will be announced soon.
The functionaries are already involved in welfare works such as blood donation campaigns and providing free tuition and food for the needy, and are not completely unfamiliar in districts, Jagadheeswaran said.
“But people will be able to identify us as political leaders soon once we start working,” he said, adding that cadres will be engaging actively with the public on state matters, even in Vijay’s absence.
Ramkumar said the TVK cadres are actively involved in membership drives in districts, adding that the party’s memberships saw a spike after Vijay’s maiden speech in Vikravandi.
“Our target was to have 2 crore members in two years by 2026. But it has already crossed 60 lakh,” Ramkumar said.
Vijay had held a meeting Sunday with party leaders at TVK headquarters in Panaiyur, a day before joining the second schedule of his upcoming movie’s shoot. The film has the working title Thalapathy 69.
The political action thriller, directed by H. Vinoth, will mark the end of the three-decade-long acting career of the 50-year-old, often referred to as Thalapathy (commander).
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‘To become state’s single largest party’
Jagadheeswaran said the TVK would contest the next election from all 234 assembly seats and will become the “single largest party”.
While it has been a week since the event, Vijay’s speech is still making ripples in the state, with leading parties criticising the actor-politician. The latest to join this group was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin himself.
During a public event in Chennai Monday, Stalin said anyone starting a new party in the state wants the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) destroyed.
“I would ask people to just think about this government’s achievement in the last four years. I would say, ‘Vazhga Vasavalargal’ (let criticisers live). I am not worried about those things. Our journey is to do good things for the people,” Stalin had said.
This came days after Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol. Thirumavalavan criticised Vijay for his “urgency to overtake the AIADMK in the state”.
Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) attacked the actor-politician for his remark that he “sees no contradiction between Tamil nationalism and Dravidian ideology”.
Without naming anyone, Vijay had said that the TVK’s ideological rivals are those who divide voters based on their identity and who have been looting the state for years in the name of Dravidianism.
On Sunday, during the party meeting, the TVK passed 26 resolutions attacking the BJP-led central government and the DMK-led state government on multiple issues, including the ‘one nation one election policy’ and Tamil Nadu’s law-and-order.
Meanwhile, neither Vijay nor the TVK has yet targeted the AIADMK, leaving open the possibility of an alliance.
“We will be the primary force and leading the alliance if at all there is one. The question is if the AIADMK is ready to be the subordinate force in a coalition. If they are, then we will take a call,” Jagadheeswaran said.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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