E-Paper
Tamil Nadu: Vijay likely to contest TN polls from 2 constituencies
Actor Vijay plans to contest Tamil Nadu assembly elections from Virugambakkam and Trichy East, focusing on personal connections and minority outreach.
Chennai: Actor-turned-politician Vijay is likely to contest the Tamil Nadu assembly election from two constituencies, Virugambakkam and Trichy East, said a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader aware of the matter.
TVK, launched in 2024, was mulling over contesting the assembly election in constituencies having names beginning with the letter ‘V’, relating to the actor’s name and “victory”, adding that Vijay is considering to contest his debut elections from seats that have a personal connection to him.
According to a TVK leader close to Vijay, Virugambakkam was considered as the actor grew up there, and Trichy East, was chosen due to its sizable minority population.
“It is the party’s strategy to contest from an urban seat and a central seat,” said the TVK leader. “This will have a larger impact across the state.”
Both seats are bastions of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Vijay has been reaching out to Christian constituents that are largely committed to the DMK.
However, a DMK leader from Trichy said that the minorities consider his party as their safest option against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“They will continue to vote for the DMK. Reports of Christisian votes swaying to TVK is not true,” the DMK leader said.
The TVK leaders said that the party also considered Vikravandi where Vijay launched TVK in 2024.
According to a TVK leader, Vijay would finalise the list of candidates soon.
