TVK Chief Vijay pays floral tribute to EV Ramasamy Periyar at Chennai party office after election win
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "TVK Chief Vijay pays floral tribute to EV Ramasamy Periyar at Chennai party office after election win")
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) President Vijay pays homage to Periyar at the TVK office after winning the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, in Chennai on Tuesday. Photograph: (ANI)
The shape of the upcoming government in the state remains unclear as TVK will need an alliance or support from other parties to reach the halfway mark in the Assembly.
Actor-turned-politician Vijay, founder of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), continued his political outreach on Tuesday, a day after his party emerged just short of a majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
As part of his public engagements, Vijay paid tribute to prominent social reformers by garlanding the statues of Periyar E V Ramasamy and Dr B R Ambedkar. The move is widely seen in political circles as an effort to position himself within the state’s long-standing Dravidian and social justice tradition.
Vijay came to power by dislodging the DMK led by MK Stalin, which emerged from the Dravidian movement in the 1960s. Notably, sitting CM MK Stalin lost his seat to TVK candidate VS Babu. The opposition AIADMK, which also remained a powerful alternative to the DMK and ruled the state for over 30 years, is also a Dravidian party and follows the ideology of founder M G Ramachandran and late leader Jayalalithaa.
The trailblazer surprised the country with a massive verdict in his maiden elections, with TVK securing 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly, falling 10 seats short of the 118 required for a simple majority. The party is now expected to explore alliances to form the government.
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Meanwhile, the TVK chief thanked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the most likely partner for the formation of a government, despite having only 5 seats to offer. Vijay wrote on X, "My sincere thanks to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha for the call and kind wishes! We shall remain committed to excellence in public service and preserving the cultural ethos of our state, which requires collective cooperation. Beyond politics, we shall prioritise the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu."
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He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, "Thank you, Hon'ble @PMOIndia, for your greetings. The well-being of our people remains our only goal. Transcending politics, we shall focus on the State's progress and the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu. We look forward to the Union Government’s support in this endeavour."
He made this statement while responding to Modi's tweet in which the Prime Minister wrote, "Congratulations to TVK and Thiru Vijay on their impressive performance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. I wish them the very best in their service to the people of the state."
