Tamil Nadu political parties slam Vijay for remarks on leaders

Tamil Nadu's political leaders criticized actor Vijay for his comments at his conference, vowing to respond in the 2026 elections amid his party's rise.

Published on: Aug 23, 2025, 07:28:15 IST

By Divya Chandrababu, Chennai

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Representatives from Tamil Nadu’s major political parties on Friday criticised actor-politician Vijay for his criticism against them at his second state conference in Madurai, which was held on Thursday.

Actor and founder of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Vijay addresses the gathering during the party's conference 'Maanadu', in Madurai on Thursday. (ANI)

“He has stooped to a low standard in addressing a tall political leader who has been in politics for four decades and is the sitting Chief Minister as ‘uncle’,” said municipal administration minister K N Nehru. “The DMK backed by the people will give Vijay a fitting reply in the 2026 Assembly election.”

Former Governor and BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan condemned Vijay for being critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “It seemed like he was delivering movie dialogues,” she said. “It was merely a one-day film show… I condemn Vijay for saying Mr Prime Minister when Modi is the master prime minister who is loved by the entire world.”

AIADMK lashed out at Vijay for criticising their alliance with the BJP. “Vijay and his TVK will disappear after the 2026 Assembly poll,” spokesperson C Vaigaiselvan said. “Both the national and regional parties clearly know that they all have to rally behind the AIADMK to unseat the DMK,” said AIADMK deputy leader of opposition R B Udayakumar.

Vijay held his second state conference on Thursday amid a massive crowd in Madurai district after launching his party in February to make his debut in the 2026 assembly elections. Vijay attacked Stalin, Modi specifically and the AIADMK and said that next year’s elections will be a direct fight between his TVK and the ruling DMK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Divya Chandrababu
Divya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs.Read More

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