Chennai:

The war of words between Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and actor-politician Vijay’s fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam flared up again Monday, with Chief Minister MK Stalin accusing “new parties” of wanting to “eliminate” the DMK. Mr Stalin, however, played down the import of such threats, declaring, “I can only say, ‘long live those who chide us’.” The riposte comes a day after Vijay targeted the ruling party on multiple issues, including sale of liquor and law and order.

Although Mr Stalin did not specifically mention Vijay or his TVK, the reference was clear, with the Chief Minister saying sarcastically, “… as (former Chief Minister and DMK icon) CN Annadurai said, I can only say ‘long live those chide us’ and that our intention is to do good for the public.”

“We don’t have to respond to others needlessly… we don’t want to waste time as we don’t have enough to serve the people,” the DMK boss said, as he preps for the 2026 Tamil Nadu election.

“In one word, if I need to say something, I can say ‘vazhga vasavalargal‘ (translated as ‘let those who criticise us live’). I am not worried about those things,” he said, adding, “… even those who launch new parties (the comment seen as a jab at Vijay) want the DMK eliminated.”

To that end, Mr Stalin this morning reproved “a few media” publications for circulating photos from last year’s devastating floods to claim waterlogging after a spell of heavy rain in October.

“A few media used flood visuals of last year (to) claim there is waterlogging now… a few do this, not all. Please don’t mistake me… (but) they don’t like the DMK growing,” he said,

“All I can humbly ask of them is to think of our achievements over the past nearly four years.”

On Sunday, Vijay’s TVK launched a multi-pronged attack at the DMK and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing the former over the sale of alcohol through government-controlled shops and criticising the latter over the contentious NEET for medical courses.

READ | Actor Vijay’s Party, TVK, Slams DMK, Opposes ‘One Nation One Election’

At a meeting of district-level party officials, the TVK passed 26 resolutions, including condemning the union government’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal. There was also a resolution against Mr Stalin’s government for its handling of the southern state’s finances.

Vijay’s TVK has ruffled the feathers of both the DMK and its long-time rival, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, since it was registered as a political party on September 8.

READ | “Copyist”, “Cocktail Ideology”: DMK, AIADMK Mock Actor-Politician Vijay

The DMK and AIADMK, and the Dravidian ideology at their core, dominate Tamil Nadu politics, making it next to impossible for national parties like the BJP and Congress to make their mark. The TVK will hope to break that stranglehold with help from the actor’s immense popularity.

Perhaps predictably, the TVK has not been received favourably by the DMK or AIADMK.

Earlier Vijay accused the DMK, and hit out at the Chief Minister and his family’s legacy, of having cheated the people of Tamil Nadu “in the name of the Dravidian model”.

Last week the ruling party dismissed the newcomer’s political ideology as having been copied from its books, while the opposition party called it a “cocktail” of various political positions.

“These are all our policies, he is copying… whatever he says is what we already said and which we are following,” the DMK’s TKS Elangovan told news agency PTI.

AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan congratulated Vijay on entering politics but said he has a long way to go to deliver. TVK’s ideology “is a mix of ideology of all parties and old wine in new bottle…a cocktail ideology taken from all political parties in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

As for the Congress, which is allied with the DMK at the state and national levels (the latter under the INDIA bloc banner), the party’s state unit, widely seen as the junior member of the DMK alliance, has distanced itself from any talk of an agreement with Vijay and his TVK.

READ | “Only High Command…”: Congress On Tamil Nadu Power-Sharing

State Congress chief K Selvaperunthagai said only the Delhi office could make that call.

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Over the past few days, the talk in Tamil Nadu’s political circles has centered around actor Vijay’s debut speech and its impact.

One rally in Vikravandi was attended by several tens of thousands of party supporters and cadres. In fact, in recent years, no other political party launch had seen the kind of crowd that Vijay had attracted. So clearly, Tamil Nadu politics has got back a crowd puller after the deaths of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa. So that is a positive for Vijay. At least 50% of the crowd that turned out at the rally was an organic crowd, and it comprised a significant section of youth and in good measure women as well.

Now let’s take a look at the speech he made. This was the rally, where Vijay chose to explain where his party stands in terms of its ideologies. Eight months ago, when he mooted the idea of floating the TVK, he had made it clear that his politics would be against corruption and divisiveness. He has stuck to that script in a speech which appeared to be more scripted and well practiced and delivered in a very high, powerful tone.

He explained that his party will be ideologically opposed to sectarian forces. At the same time, the party’s political enemy, according to him, will be a family that has been ruling Tamil Nadu in the name of Dravida model invoking the names of Periyar and Anna.

In fact, he explained that he does not want to name anybody or indulge in name calling, but he left no one in doubt that he was ideologically opposed to the BJP and politically opposed to the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu. He remained silent about the AIADMK, a political party which has cumulatively ruled Tamil Nadu for the longest period.

What were the other things that stood out in his speech? How would it impact the ruling DMK?

Script and presentation: D. Suresh Kumar

Editing: Shibu Narayan

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK has dismissed actor-politician Vijay’s ideology for his Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam, saying he had copied them. Main opposition AIADMK called it a “cocktail” of current political standpoints of various parties.

“These are all our policies, he is copying… whatever he says is what we had already said and which we are following,” DMK leader TKS Elangovan was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

In his debut public appearance yesterday, Vijay had targeted the DMK’s first family and even slammed the party’s politics, saying they were “cheating people… in the name of Dravidian model”.

As for the family of MK Stalin, he said, “One family is looting the state” through “underhand dealing”. 

DMK said it has seen many rivals in its long innings. “This is the first conference and let us see, we have seen many parties,” Mr Elangovan said.

Vijay had said his party, he said, would adopt Dravidian icon Periyar’s policy on social justice and women’s empowerment. The other icons of his party, he said, were Kamaraj, NR Ambedkar, freedom fighter Velu Nachiar and revolutionary Anjalai Ammal women icons.

But there was a special clarification — “We will not take Periyar’s ‘No god’ stand, we are against nobody’s faith,” he had said.  

Underscoring his party’s strong ideological moorings and its 75-year journey, Mr Elangovan said the party was built to fight for people’s issues, whereas Vijay’s party aspires to be in power in 2026, within two years of its launch.

Unlike leaders of the DMK, TVK leaders would not fight for people by going to jail. “That is the difference between DMK and other parties…we are strong, we work for the people, we are for the people,” he said.

AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan congratulated Vijay on entering politics but said he has a long way to go to deliver. 

TVK’s ideology “is a mix of ideology of all parties and old wine in new bottle…a cocktail ideology taken from all political parties in Tamil Nadu,” he said.  

(With agencies)