Describing both the BJP and the DMK as fascist with oppressive leadership, actor-turned-neta and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder-president Vijay on Friday claimed that the saffron party is the secret boss of the DMK and vowed to unseat the Dravidian major in the 2026 assembly election.

“The assembly election will be a straight fight between the DMK and TVK. The contest will be between two parties – TVK and DMK – to put an end to the rule by a single family,” Vijay asserted at the first-ever General Council meeting of the TVK, attended by 2,100 party functionaries at Thiruvanmiyur in the city. Sounding the poll bugle and positioning himself and the TVK as the alternative to the ruling DMK, the actor described Stalin as a ‘monarchical chief minister who helps the saffron party to gain firm roots in the Dravidian heartland.

Advertisement

Significantly, this was the first time that he had explicitly named both Stalin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in public, asking the latter not to take Tamil Nadu lightly but handle it carefully. This was in part to dispel the criticism that he is the B-team of the BJP and to occupy the secular turf so as to cut into the support base of the DMK-led alliance. Alleging a hidden alliance between the DMK and the BJP, Vijay said, “The politics of both Modi and Stalin has the echo of Hitler and Mussolini with one leading the way and the other adhering to it faithfully, concealing the relationship. The BJP orchestrates the way the DMK sets the narrative, making the DMK’s complicity in carrying out the fascist agenda dictated by the BJP clear. The fascist rule at the Centre has found its twin, no less in its grip.”

Alleging a systematic neglect of Tamil Nadu by the Modi government, the actor said, “They collect GST from Tamil Nadu but do not allocate proportionate funds back to us. They are bent on imposing Hindi and National Education Policy but refuse funds for our children’s education. We are watching where you are heading to with your One Nation One Election plan. These policies are an assault on state autonomy and identity.” Then, in a warning to Modi, he said, “Tamil Nadu people aren’t naïve as they judge leaders not by promises but by their actions.”

Turning his attention to the challenges facing Tamil Nadu, Vijay asked, “What defines politics? Is it ensuring that every family thrives or allowing a single family to exploit the entire state for their own gain?” Hinting at taking a more fierce approach towards the DMK, he said, “Should I strike blow for blow? I am thinking about it.”