ChennaiSeptember 14, 2025 09:00 AM IST
First published on: Sep 14, 2025 at 09:00 AM IST
Actor-turned-politician Vijay Saturday launched his first statewide campaign with a five-hour slog through the streets of Trichy that doubled as a test of his star power and his political ambition. Thousands of fans swarmed the roads, turning what was supposed to be a short motorcade into an unsanctioned roadshow that paralysed the city and delayed his maiden speech by nearly five hours.
Atop a specially designed bus painted in the green-and-white colours of his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Vijay waved to women and children who crowded sidewalks, rooftops, and dividers, chanting his name in the searing afternoon sun. The campaign, titled as ‘Unga Vijay, Naa Varen’ — ‘Your Vijay, I’m Coming’ — marked the start of his bid to move from Tamil cinema to Tamil Nadu’s corridors of power in the 2026 assembly election.
The 50-year-old star started his speech framing both the ruling DMK and the BJP as parties that had “cheated” the state. “DMK gave 505 poll promises in the 2021 assembly election. How many have they fulfilled?” he asked, leaning into the microphone after a glitch briefly cut his audio.
“What happened to the promises like reducing the diesel price by Rs 3, monthly electricity bill cycle, waiver of education loans for students, 40 percent reservation for women in government jobs, and filling two lakh vacancies in the government? We can keep on asking but DMK will not answer.”
He ridiculed the government’s much-touted free bus travel scheme for women, alleging that beneficiaries were mocked. “They allow you (women) to travel free on town buses and mock you saying free…free…,” he said, before adding that not all women were receiving the monthly Rs 1,000 financial dole.
“We will not compromise on women’s safety and law and order issues. Basic needs of the people in education, electricity, and health will be facilitated by us,” he said.
Vijay’s speech fused grievance politics with a direct attack on both state and central governments. He reserved sharp words for the BJP over national policies, invoking Tamil Nadu’s simmering disputes with New Delhi on issues ranging from archaeology to education.
“The BJP betrayed Tamil Nadu on the Keeladi archaeological site, on Katchatheevu, on NEET, and by denying funds for not implementing the National Education Policy,” he said. Then, going back to his main rival in the state, he drew an equivalence. “If the BJP betrays Tamil Nadu, what the DMK does is breach of trust. Both are the same and should be considered as crimes in a democracy. Both the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Chief Minister (M K Stalin) know how to deceive people.”
The crowd roared as he declared that TVK would draw a line between cinematic fantasy and political reality. “We will only make promises that can be implemented,” he said. “Not cinema dialogues.”
His campaign kick-off underlined both his star magnetism and the logistical challenges that come with it. Vijay landed at Trichy International Airport on a chartered flight at 9.30am but was unable to cover the nine kilometers to Marakkadai, his campaign venue, until 3 pm. Thousands of cadres and fans mobbed his bus, stalling traffic for hours on the Chennai-Madurai highway. Women fainted in the crush, police struggled to hold barricades, and residents complained of being stranded as vehicles piled up for miles.
Police officials said they had permitted only a short event, with instructions that the actor speak between 10.35 and 11.05 am.
Instead, the roadshow stretched far beyond. By the time he mounted the bus roof, the crowd had swollen into the tens of thousands. The choice of Trichy, long seen as a symbolic battleground for both the DMK and the AIADMK, was deliberate.