'The AIADMK front comes second, and then the TVK.'
Vijay said the 2026 assembly election carried a new environment that had never seen before.
'The AIADMK will lose a lot of votes simply because it is aligned with the BJP.'
Take a look at the famous faces who exercised their democratic right.
Vijay's TVK party is on the verge of forming a government in Tamil Nadu, drawing parallels to NTR's earlier success in Andhra Pradesh. Both achieved electoral success shortly after forming their parties, highlighting the potential for film popularity to translate into political gains.
Whether he comes to power or not, both his admirers and opponents agree on one thing -- Vijay may well turn out to be the 'X factor'.
'Remember Vijay had never spoke of himself as a Christian when he was a film star.' 'The BJP strategy is they want the Christian minority constituency to move away from the DMK.' 'That is what the BJP wants so that it will be very easy to mobilise Hindu votes.' 'This strategy is to weaken the Dravidian ideology and bring in religion based politics into Tamil Nadu.'
Unlike films that end with the underdog becoming winner and being sworn in at a public ceremony, Vijay's trial by fire is only about to begin, predicts Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The BJP is projected as a party that follows Hindu politics, talking about religion, gods and goddess all the time.'
'People of Tamil Nadu are not bothered about religion in politics.' 'That is why Tamil Nadu people do not encourage the BJP.'
Actor-politician Vijay is reportedly considering contesting from either Velachery or Virugambakkam constituencies in Chennai for the upcoming Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, according to sources within his party, TVK.
Vijay said the truth about the fatal incident will come out soon, and hinted he was ready to face action.
The attack comes a day after senior DMK leader and state Electricity Minister N Veerasamy took strong exception to the reported 'fatwa' by Vedanti for beheading Karunanidhi.
While the crowds outside the AIADMK HQ seem to have taken victory for granted, a small crowd out the DMK HQ refuses to concede. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com reports from Chennai.
Even as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's general council meeting got underway in Chennai on Monday morning, endorsing Edappadi K Palaniswami as the interim general secretary, the rival O Panneerselvam faction staged a well-planned coup at the party headquarters in Royapettah, central Chennai.
To celebrate his coronation as AIADMK general secretary on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 -- Madras High Court Justice K Kumaresh Babu rejected interim applications by O Paneerselvam and his supporters seeking stay on the general secretary polls -- Edappadi K Palaniswami went all MGR.
However, the tilting factor still remains: Can the rivalling 'Modi brand' of 'soft Hindutva' and 'hard-sell nationalism' garner more votes for the NDA in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
While in the AIADMK office you could feel the vibes of victory, at OPS' house you could feel the struggle.
Thursday was the day results from the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and by-elections in Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were out, so what were some of our leaders up to?
The EPS camp believes that the BJP was already arm-twisting the AIADMK into conceding more seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections 'than they deserve' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party would deliberate on its failures and do course correction after internal deliberations.
Ahead of VK Sasikala's return to Tamil Nadu on February 8, there are some important questions facing her. One, does she carry electoral weight more now than her brainchild AMMK had in the 2019 LS polls? Two, can she retain or build upon the five per cent vote-share from that time? And finally, is there space for Sasikala to retrieve, first within the AIADMK and then across the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Thursday's protests across Tamil Nadu was less pro-Cauvery and more anti-Modi in character and content -- including in it various development projects in the state that are perceived as 'environmentally unfriendly' and hence 'anti-Tamil', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The fracas between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Monday over who will be projected as the CM candidate in next year's assembly polls not only points to a possibility of another vertical split in Tamil Nadu's ruling party but will also come as sweet music for the opposition DMK which in the past stood to gain from the AIADMK's squabbles, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam is said to be upset at his son Raveendranath Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP, being denied a ministerial chance for a second time in a row, beginning with the formation of Modi 2.0 in 2019, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress protested vociferously both inside and outside Parliament on Monday against the political developments in Maharashtra as it stalled proceedings and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "murdering democracy" in the state.
For the AIADMK's cadres, it is much more than an election symbol, they believe the party's electoral chances rest on owning it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress workers must feel what their BJP counterparts did in 2009, but that could change.
'Like it or not, the Congress is still the only party with the potential to challenge the BJP at a pan-Indian level,' says T V R Shenoy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances