TVK’s Vijay: India’s Lux Boy Politician
TVK's Vijay held a major workers conference in Madurai on Thursday! (Image TVK IT Wing)
Politics without empathy is just a drama, and the people know well the skill to trash actors from political stages.
By MANISH ANAND
New Delhi, October 28, 2025 — A month after several of his fans were crushed to death in a stampede in Karur where he held a major political meeting, actor-turned-politician Vijay met family members of the deceased at his expansive mansion in Mahabalipuram. Aiming to electorally monetise his fanbase, Vijay met family members of 31 deceased in rooms at his mansion where they were brought to in a number of buses. Grief was comforted with luxury.
In a nation where the lives of the people come cheap, for they die in bus fires and road accidents too often, Vijay aka Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar consoled the bereaved family members of the victims, who had jostled for spaces at the Karur rally to catch a glimpse of the film star, after a gap of one month.
Such resort politics may be a first in Indian politics. There could possibly be no parallel of the scale of outrageousness. True, a few godmen in the country escaped fury of the law of the land after scores of people were killed in stampedes at satsang called by them. In the narrow lanes of temples, the people have been killed in stampedes in episodes forgotten soon after.
Vijay, who is advised by ace electoral strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, claims conspiracy in the Karur stampede. The administration in Tamil Nadu alleged callousness on parts of the organisers of the rally. The film star, enjoying a cult following, may hope that the people in Tamil Nadu will forget the Karur stampede in a few weeks. The state still has months to go for the Assembly elections.
But the scar will stay. TVK’s Vijay has earned the tag of India’s luxury king politician. His scripts of revolutionary changes in Tamil Nadu will sound hollow, for he lost an opportunity to transform into a politician. He remains a film star.
After a three-hour show, the screen goes black or white. His choreographed rallies may attract the people wanting to catch a glimpse of a film star. He will be seen as an extension of a dream world. Politics without empathy is just a drama, and the people know well the skill to trash actors from political stages.
Politicians forget food and needs when they spend hours listening to the people. Some even forget when they had a full eight-hour sleep. They even smell foul, unmindful that they forgot to brush teeth as morning stretch into afternoon in the company of the people.
The likes of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Ram Vilas Paswan, and Kansi Ram built political fortunes by peddling cycles for miles each day to be in midst of the people. Some of the successors squandered away gains of their masters by confining to mansions. TVK’s Vijay certainly seems politically unaware, lacking virtues of a public figure.
(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
