Staring a party in 2024 and registering a WIN in FIRST appearance to elections, sounds impossible, but well he did it, the Tamil Nadu’s most loved actor of this generation Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar. Also famously known as “Thalapathy”.
Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) dominated the 2026 assembly elections by securing a staggering 108 seats and a record-breaking 35% vote share. While the party fell just 10 seats short of the 118-seat absolute majority mark—making TVK the single largest party in a historic fractured mandate—this monumental victory has decimated traditional DMK and AIADMK strongholds, paving the way for Vijay to take the Chief Minister’s office through a highly anticipated coalition government.”
“However, a massive fan base has never been a guaranteed ticket to political power, and Tamil Nadu’s history is equally filled with superstars whose box-office magic failed at the ballot box.
Take the legendary Sivaji Ganesan, MGR’s greatest cinematic rival; despite his unmatched acting prowess and God-like status, his own political party, Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani, suffered a crushing defeat in the 1989 elections.
In more recent years, Kamal Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Maima (MNM) with huge fanfare, yet the party has consistently struggled to win a SINGLE SEAT, And then, of course, there is Rajinikanth—the ultimate superstar who kept the state on the edge of its seat teasing his brand of ‘spiritual politics’ for over two decades, only to abruptly withdraw in 2020 before ever contesting an election
REASONS WHY VIJAY IS DIFFERENT?
1. Made His Entry into Politics in His Prime Film Acting Era.
When Rajinikanth finally made his much-hyped political announcement in late 2017, he was already 67 years old. Similarly, Kamal Haasan was 63 when he launched Makkal Needhi Maiam in 2018. In stark contrast, Vijay officially formed TVK at the age of 49 and led the party to a massive electoral victory in 2026 at just 51. By stepping onto the political battlefield nearly fifteen to twenty years earlier than Rajini and Kamal did, Vijay brought a relentless physical stamina to his grassroots campaigning, allowing him to actively mobilize the state’s massive younger demographic in a way that the older veterans simply couldn’t match.”
2. Made His Political Enemy Clear, Didn’t Fear nor Played Safe.
Rajinikanth completely stepped back from the battlefield and Kamal Haasan often adopted a cautious, diplomatic stance, Vijay boldly labeled the DMK his primary ‘political enemy.’ He aggressively targeted their dynastic culture and openly accused them of ‘slander politics,‘ pulling absolutely no punches during his grassroots campaigns. Ultimately, while playing it safe caused the political ambitions of both Rajini and Kamal to fade, Vijay’s aggressive, head-on strategy is exactly what catapulted TVK to a historic victory.” .TVK Made a National Power its Ideological Enemy
3. TVK Made a National Power its Ideological Enemy
By fighting a two-front war against both the state’s political heavyweight and the nation’s biggest ruling party, Vijay proved he wasn’t looking for easy alliances or safe compromises. He officially declared the ruling national party as TVK’s core “ideological enemy” right from his very first conference.