The campaign for next year's Tamil Nadu elections took a dramatic turn this week after releasing actor politician Vijay's Tamiraga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) this week. DMK quickly retaliated and denounced TVK's “cheap tactics.”
Party spokesman Saravanan said, “This is a deep video and a cheap tactic for political gain. It's fine to use AI for social gain… But will you misuse it for politics? People will see through it.”
He also dismissed Vijay's repeated claims of “understanding” in the BJP.
The video depicts “Anadurai,” a young Tamil man and woman who won the election in 1967 when Congress lost, declared that Vijay would guarantee victory in 2026.
“The young people stood with me in 1967… Today they are behind you (Vijay) and, like me, they became prime minister.
The video also showed “Anadurai” praises “Anadurai” for recognizing social activist and reformer EV Ramasamy, known as Periya, as a policy leader and taking inspiration from his life.
“When I identified Peria as a 'policy leader', I realized that your egalitarian politics were on the right track. People who continued the rules by my name and drawing (see current DMK) were working for my son's uplift.
“Your explanation of the tacit understanding with the central government has removed the thorns of my heart. Let everyone say that Vijay's rules are Anadurai's way… TVK will win.”
The 2-minute 32-second video also touched on the debate over the imposition of Hindi language, a delicate issue in the Southern state, which has already been caught up in the state-centric conflict over national education policy, prior to the election. Ai-Annadurai told voters, “I opposed the imposition of Hindi… People trusted me… If people are now treated like a pack of votes, how do you trust me?”
Ai-Annadurai also criticized the party he founded to profit from nepotism and the sale of liquor.
The real Anadurai and Tamil sociopolitical leaders of his time opposed alcohol consumption. In fact, when he became prime minister in 1967, the ban came into effect.
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The ban was an intermittent policy for the next 20 years. DMK and its arch rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) alternated when AIADMK icon J Jayalalitha closed the Tody Shop and enforced the ban and relaxed it when he became prime minister in 1991.
However, in a policy reversal, the same party took over the sale of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in 2003, allowing the state government to generate tens of thousands of crores of revenue.
Ai-Annadurai's jab at the sale of liquor reflects the BJP's attack on DMK on the issue. For example, in February last year, then-BJP chief K Annamalai made a similar claim.
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In particular, TVK's AI Annadurai video has not mentioned anything about AIADMK, and it is recognised that Vijay recognizes that support for one of the two main Dravidian parties may be needed, leaving his options open.
But he may face waiting. AIADMK recently updated its relationship with the BJP, up to a fierce division over Anamarai's criticism of iconic past leaders like Annadurai and Mgr.
Vijay frequently summons the legacy of Annadurai and AIADMK's MGR or MG Ramachandran, predicting that 2026 will reflect the 1967 and 1977 elections, which reconstructed Tamil politics. The 1967 election ended Parliamentary control, and MGR's 1977 victory kept DMK at bay for more than a decade.
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