Vijay’s entry into Tamil Nadu politics

Few days ago, the celebrity, superstar Kollywood actor Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Thalapathy Vijay, marked his entrance to the political battlefield of Tamil Nadu when he delivered his first speech as a political leader at a massive rally held in Vikravandi, Tamil Nadu. The political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam was established by the famous actor-turned politician upon announcing his retirement from films last February. Vijay is almost certain to contest for the Chief Ministerial post of Tamil Nadu at the next legislative assembly election, which will be held in 2026.

Kollywood superstars dominating the regional political landscape of Tamil Nadu is nothing new. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers M.G. Ramachandran, Janaki Ramachandran, and J. Jayalalithaa were all Kollywood stars. Some political commentators in South India are already projecting that Vijay too could join that list two years from now. Even Chief Ministers like C.N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi were script writers associated with Tamil cinema.

Born in Madras to director S.A. Chandrasekhar, Vijay made his debut as a child actor in the Tamil film Vetri (1984). He played his first lead role in the film Naalaiya Theerpu (1992) at the age of 18. As of 2021, the popular film star’s wealth was estimated at 420 crore Indian Rupees. He reached the pinnacle of success as an actor when he won the Best International Actor award at the International Achievement Recognitions Awards in 2018 for his role in the film Mersal. The South Indian superstar has a special connection to Sri Lanka as he is married to Sangeetha Sornalingam, a Sri Lankan Tamil lady.

Despite being married to a Sri Lankan-born lady, he demonstrated no love towards the motherland of his spouse when he proclaimed in 2011 that the South Asian island would be wiped off from the world map in the event Sri Lankan Navy attacked any more fishermen from his state subsequent to the alleged killing of a fisherman from Tamil Nadu, who had trespassed into the Sri Lankan waters, by Sri Lankan Navy. While the offensive against the LTTE was going on, Thalapathy took part in a one-day hunger strike in November 2008 to demonstrate his opposition towards the Government of Sri Lanka.

The relationship between New Delhi and Colombo has been greatly influenced by the politics of Tamil Nadu since the two nations gained independence. The anti-Sri Lankan attitudes of political parties in Tamil Nadu have regularly obstructed the cooperation between India and Sri Lanka. It seems that Vijay too would be no different. Illicit poaching by Indian fishermen, mainly from Tamil Nadu, in Sri Lanka’s northern seas is a huge threat to the livelihoods of fishermen in the northern parts of Sri Lanka. It is alleged that politicians/political parties in Tamil Nadu encourage fishermen to encroach into the island’s northern seas with the intention of creating rifts between the two states. 

For a long period of time, Tamil Nadu’s political sphere has been dominated by the DMK, which is led by the present Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, and AIADMK, which has gone into decline since the death of J. Jayalalithaa. It would be interesting to see how the political dynamics of Tamil Nadu would evolve with the emergence of Vijay as a serious political contender.

Tamil Nadu is India’s second largest state economy, and it also hosts the highest number of factories in the world’s most populous nation. Its regional government has set an ambitious target of becoming a $ 1 trillion economy by 2030. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka’s ability to connect with the booming economy of its neighbour – which is expected to become a regional economic powerhouse – is hampered by the hostility of Tamil Nadu’s political forces towards the island nation.