With Tamil Nadu’s assembly elections just weeks away and political rumours swirling in every direction, actor-turned-politician Vijay used a significant public occasion on Wednesday, March 18, to deliver his most direct statement yet on TVK’s political stance ruling out any alliance with the BJP-led NDA and reaffirming that his party is heading into the polls alone, with its eyes set on forming the government.
The occasion was a special Iftar event organised by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) at a private hotel in Poocheri, near Mamallapuram in Chengalpattu district. Vijay had observed the Ramadan fast from the morning and arrived at the venue in the evening to break it alongside Muslim community members. Seated on the floor with attendees, wearing a traditional cap, he joined the prayer and partook in the Iftar meal before addressing the gathering of approximately 1,000 people.
Speaking with characteristic directness, Vijay went straight at the speculation that has dogged TVK for weeks. “Ever since we entered politics, there have been many rumours ‘this team’, ‘that team’. But once everyone understood that this person belongs to no team but the people’s team the people’s team they tried every other form of slander against me,” he said. “So finally, when they wondered what else they could do to Vijay, they began spreading a false campaign ‘this alliance’, ‘that alliance’, he is going to join everyone’. You must have been confused hearing all this news.”
He then chose to lay the matter to rest plainly: “So I will state it again openly and clearly we have never and will never compromise on our stand of secularism, on the position of secular social justice. We are always firm that it is under our leadership that the government will be formed. As I said at our first conference, in politics, for anyone or for anything, we will not make any compromise whatsoever. There are no such talks. So no matter who spreads whatever slander, please do not believe it.”
The statement carries particular significance in the context of Tamil Nadu’s rapidly evolving pre-election landscape. With the Election Commission of India having announced the Assembly polls, scheduled for April 23, parties across the spectrum are finalising alliance positions. The BJP, keen to consolidate its presence in the state, had reportedly been in discussions with multiple parties including some overtures towards TVK. Vijay’s remarks at the Iftar gathering, however, constitute the clearest public rejection yet of any such possibility.
TVK has previously announced its intention to contest all 234 assembly seats independently, a bold and ambitious strategy for a party that was founded only in 2024 and has not yet contested an election. Vijay has consistently maintained that the party will not compromise its secular, social justice principles for the sake of seat-sharing arrangements.
He closed his address with a note of confidence directed at his supporters: “With the grace of the Almighty, we will certainly be able to reach the target we have set. Be confident only good things will happen and victory is certain.”
The gathering itself an Iftar shared with the Muslim community during the holy month of Ramadan also carried its own political symbolism. As TVK seeks to establish its credentials as a genuinely secular, inclusive party ahead of the polls, the optics of Vijay fasting alongside and breaking bread with Muslim community members in Mamallapuram was a deliberate and visible statement of the party’s outreach priorities
-Samuthiran
