NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, OCT 13
Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam has won 109 seats in the Tamil Nadu local body polls held across nine districts.
The victory is being seen as the first electoral foray of a political movement associated with the actor. In Tamil Nadu cinema and politics are inseparable. Right from DMK founders Dr CN Annadurai and Dr Kalaingar M Karunanidhi, Puratchithalaivar MGR and Amma Jayalalitha have ruled both cinema and politics.
Fans of the actor have won in northern Tamil Nadu districts such as Kanchipuram, Chengalpet, and mid-central districts such as Villupuram, Ranipet and Tirupatthur, and some in the deep South such as Tenkasi and other districts. The actor is yet to make a statement on the victories.
Earlier, Vijay had filed a case against his father, filmmaker SA Chandrasekaran, for using his pictures and other brand collateral for a movement called Vijay Makkal Iyakkam. Now, the victories by fans belong to the outfit called Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, which, according to sources among fans, has the approval and support of the actor himself.
Vijay’s political journey has been largely tangential: he had met with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in August 2009, but the actor clarified after the meeting that he had no serious political plans. Recently, the actor has been openly expressing support to victims of police excesses — the anti-Sterlite protest and police action — and controversies of public interest such as agitations against the medical entrance test NEET.
