Vijay goes for Udhayanidhi’s jugular by splitting Periyar

“Only our words will remain silent, but the action will be loud,” Vijay says in the 2003 movie Thirumalai. Two decades later, as Thalapathy Vijay roared in front of 3 lakh supporters, his actions and words were both loud. And Vijay did the unthinkable. He split Periyar, the Dravidian icon on whose ideology the politics of Tamil Nadu has been based for over eight decades now.
Vijay delivered a 40-minute speech while launching his party, the Thamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), on October 27, that outlined his political stance and TVK’s ideology. In the speech, Vijay split Periyar into two.
“I will not take Periyar’s ideology of refusing Gods. But, social justice, women empowerment we will take from Periyar,” he said, adding, “Like Annadurai (DMK founder) once said, all is one and one is God, this is our ideology”.
This deviation from Periyar’s anti-God stance, and that too in public, is unheard of in Tamil Nadu’s politics.
It is Periyar and his politics that are the fount and edifice of the two main Tamil Nadu parties — the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Periyar, the head of the Justice Party, changed its name to Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944. In 1949, CN Annadurai split the party and formed the (DMK) in 1949. Then in 1972, MG Ramachandran split the DMK and formed the AIADMK.
Periyar’s anti-God and anti-religious ideologies have dictated decades of Tamil politics, with the two parties grabbing around 80% of the vote share and being in and out of power in revolving-door politics.
It is a well-thought-out plan that Vijay, the Thalapathy (general) of Tamil cinema, has refused to fall for the Periyar principles, hook, line and sinker.
Vijay’s political debut comes at a time when Tamil Nadu, a state with renowned temples, is seeing a revival in religious sentiments. The BJP, led by former IPS officer Annamali in Tamil Nadu, was trying to tap into that. It even increased its vote share.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that temple visits and practise of Hindusim are seeing a resurgence after Periyar’s Self Respect Movement, aimed at social equality, made religious practices a taboo.
“Joseph Vijay is not a practising Christian. He is a Christian Pillai and that is where caste-neutrality comes in. His mother and wife are Hindu Mudaliar. That diversity works in Tamil Nadu,” a key Team Vijay member told India Today Digital in February.
In deviating from the Periyar principles, Vijay has his target — DMK heir apparent Udhayanidhi Stalin — in his crosshairs.
MK Stalin, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief, made the line of succession clear by promoting his son Udhayanidhi as the deputy CM.
Udhayanidhi has been issuing remarks against Sanatana Dharma to prove that he is the true-blue heir to the DMK and of Periyar politics. He has also been trying to consolidate the Dravidian voter base.
Vijay said the DMK was the political enemy of his TVK even as he attacked the party over corruption and being dynastic.
Noticeable is his silence on the AIADMK.
The AIADMK, now led by Edappadi Palaniswami, is no more the force it used to be and has a scattered presence in pockets. It drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha election despite amassing a 23% vote share. The AIADMK definitely has a big loyal voter base.
By sparing the AIADMK of a vicious attack, Vijay is trying to bring together a splintered pro-AIADMK and pro-religion voter groups.
“There is a 40% untapped vote share beyond the DMK and the AIADMK. They are unable to organically attract voters despite being in alliance with multiple smaller parties,” the Team Vijay member explained.
With his duopoly, Vijay, in fact, might end up attracting even DMK voters.
“Some sections of the DMK sound atheist and anti-Brahmin. No other party with a significant vote share does it. Even the latest political entrant, Vijay, despite idealising Periyar, is clearly staying away from atheism and anti-Brahminism,” wrote Chennai-based financial expert D Muthukrishnan, suggesting that the DMK needed to “move away from atheism and anti-Brahminism”.
Though the DMK and Udhayanidhi Stalin are getting corralled in an anti-religion narrative, Vijay is expanding the scope of his politics by adopting the social-reformer Periyar and rejecting the anti-God Periyar. Given the massive fan-following that the megastar has, Vijay could go on to define the course of Dravidian politics.