Superstar turned politician Vijay’s party scores a blockbuster victory in its first election

TAMIL NADU: In the state elections in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, superstar-turned-politician former Tamil actor Joseph Vijay’s fledgling party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) has surprised everyone by achieving a blockbuster victory in its first election.

According to Indian media, Vijay’s party, formed in February 2024, has managed to win 108 out of 234 seats in TVK Tamil Nadu, requiring 118 seats for a majority.

In this election, TVK has emerged as a major political force in Tamil Nadu, causing a major rift in the traditional political system. Previously, the ruling party DMK and the opposition party ADMK have been strong here, which have managed to win 59 and 47 seats respectively this time.

Vijay himself won from both Perambur and Tiruchi seats. His party secured almost 35 percent (34.92 percent) of the votes in its first election, which is an extraordinary performance.

It should be noted that Vijay joined politics in 2024, saying goodbye to the film industry at the peak of his career, but his political activities had started much earlier.

In 2009, he transformed his fan clubs into a popular network for charitable works. In 2011, this network made an initial demonstration of its political power by supporting the ADMK alliance. Over time, his film events took on a political color, where he spoke to the youth on issues such as unemployment, exam pressure and corruption, and in 2019, he also criticized the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act.