Tamil Nadu Election 2026: 'Vijay Is A Stooge Of The BJP'

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The Tamil Nadu assembly elections have been announced, and the state will elect its next government on April 23.

With less than a month to go, the major parties have announced seat arrangements, which makes the upcoming battle very interesting.

The ruling Dravida Munetra Kazhagam led by Chief Minister M K Stalin on March 5 finalised seat-sharing with its main ally, the Congress party, offering it 28 seats plus a Rajya Sabha seat.

The DMK has since been holding talks with its junior allies, but not everyone seems to be happy. Last week,the Tamilaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi, walked out of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance into the Opposition National Democratic Alliance.

On Monday the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam heading the NDA in the state finalised its seat-sharing arrangements. Allotting the BJP 27 seats, the Pattali Makkal Katchi 18 seats and the Amma Mukkal Munnetra Kazhagam seats, the AIADMK kept 178 seats for itself.

Interestingly, the ruling DMK is yet make a formal announcement on how many seats it will contest, amid reports that the state government was facing anti-incumbency, due to which it may drop many sitting legislators.

However, DMK Spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai doesn't buy arguments of anti-incumbency, believing that the party is on the cusp of being re-elected.

"We will sweep the polls and form the government again. There is no anti-incumbency, in fact there is pro-incumbency," Annadurai tells tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor A Ganesh Nadar.

There is a lot of talk about the anti-incumbency wave against the Stalin government. How are you planning to handle it?

There is no anti-incumbency. In fact there is pro-incumbency. This is because of the welfare measures taken by our government. There has been economic growth, the per capita income has grown. There is inclusive growth.

What about the 12 years anti-incumbency of the Narendra Modi government? You never mention that.

In the months leading to the elections there were a lot of heated exchanges between some Congress leaders and your party as the Congress wanted a share in the government. Can the two parties put the bitterness behind them and work together during the elections?

That is irrelevant now. It's a done and dusted story. The seat sharing talks have concluded. Now we will work together.

You have admitted a lot of leaders from other parties into your party. If you give them tickets to contest now, will it not affect the morale of DMK leaders who have stayed with the party? Will the cadre work for such candidates who have recently joined the party?

DMK cadres are aware of the political situation. M K Stalin is the tallest leader in the state. From 2011 AIADMK leaders have been joining the DMK.

Our party is the parent organisation. The flock is returning, our cadres accept this.

In the current assembly the AIADMK has 65 MLAs and the BJP four MLAs and yet your leaders attack the BJP more than they attack the AIADMK. Why?

This is because the AIADMK is remote controlled by the BJP. The AIADMK is a branch of the BJP in Tamil Nadu.

EPS (AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami) echoes whatever the BJP says. There is no difference between them.

Turning to the Iran war fallout, the hotel industry employs lakhs of people. Stopping the supply of commercial gas cylinders to them could hit employment, which means you could lose a lot of votes. How are you going to handle that?

The people of Tamil Nadu are intelligent. They know this has happened because of the failed policy of the central government.

The DMK will not be affected.

As the BJP is allied with the AIADMK, the minorities are expected to vote for the DMK. But this time there is an option for them, in the form of actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. Will you end up losing minority votes to Vijay?

The DMK has fought for the rights of every citizen, including the minorities.

Whenever the BJP attacks the Muslims or Christians we have opposed it.

Vijay did not oppose the attack on churches during Christmas in other states. He is a stooge of the BJP.

Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi's vote percentage has increased in every election. What impact will he have on this election?

The NTK has 7% to 8% vote share. The AIADMK and DMK have 75% of the total votes. 25% of the voters do not support the two majors.

So Vijay can get 8 to 10% of the votes. The NTK will get the same. It will not affect us.

All your allies want to contest more seats, and you have more allies this time. How are you going to manage them and also make sure that you have your own majority as you don't want to share power?

We are managing them. We have convinced them about our seat sharing formula. We will get a majority on our own.

Vijay is drawing huge crowds. How much of this will translate to votes? He is supposed to have a big impact on first time voters and swing voters. What is your opinion?

He may get 8% to 10% votes. A lot depends on his candidates.

Only N T Rama Rao succeeded in his first attempt because of anti-incumbency in Andhra Pradesh. Here it is pro-incumbency.

When a TVK leader spoke about Rajnikanth it was the AIADMK and BJP that criticised him, your party was silent. Why?

We thought that enough has been said about that topic. It is understood.

Is there any truth to the claim that the DMK pressured Rajini not to join politics?

I will not comment on speculation.

Will the freebies culture that both Dravidian parties practise bankrupt the state?

When the central government gives a corporate tax waiver you don't call it a freebie. The government lost Rs 4 lakh crores when they lowered corporate tax.

The central government did not do anything when millionaires left the country.

We help the needy so that they are included in the inclusive growth of the economy.

Our state's economic growth is very strong.

Tamil Nadu has a habit of changing the government in every election. If the trend is maintained, your party will be out of power after the elections.

That trend was broken in 2016 when the AIADMK came back to power. That's the trend in the country now.

We will come back to power.

Delaying the release of Vijay's movie Jana Nayagan has actually made the movie more popular, and also takes its release date closer to the election. Will that benefit him?

Please ask the BJP this question. They have weaponised the censor board.

Is the DMK open to the idea of power-sharing with allies?

Our leader M K Stalin has said it many times. The people of Tamil Nadu do not accept a coalition government.

What will you do if the DMK falls short of a majority on its own, and needs its allies' support to get a majority and they want a share in power in exchange for support?

We will sweep the elections. We will get more than 200 seats.

According to you, what are the issues before the voters this time?

The main issue is that if they want to allow the state to continue to grow or to allow regressive communal forces to enter the state.

It is Tamil Nadu versus the NDA. It is Dravidians versus Aryans.

There have been demands that Stalin should head the INDIA bloc. What are the chances that he will move to Delhi after the elections and have Udhayanidhi take over in Chennai, something like what Nitish Kumar has done in Bihar? /strong>

Chief Minister Stalin has answered this question. He said, 'I know my height. We have only 40 MPs in Parliament.'