In a stunning turn of events following the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is poised to form the next state government, thanks to the newfound backing of the Indian National Congress. For years, Vijay marketed himself and his party as champions against the entrenched, corrupt establishment and the evils of dynastic politics. However, TVK’s alliance with the Congress, goes without saying is deeply synonymous with dynastic politics and corruption, raises serious questions about Vijay’s ideological consistency and the promises he made to the electorate.
To understand the irony of this alliance, one must look back at Vijay’s political beginnings. Long before the formation of TVK, Vijay fashioned himself as a crusader against political graft. During the 2011 India Against Corruption movement, a young Vijay traveled to Delhi to share a platform with social activist Anna Hazare, pledging his support and praising the movement as a necessary battle to “get rid of this social evil”.
Actor Vijay, who supported the Anna Hazare movement, and Congress are now set to come together to form a government in Tamil Nadu. Ironically, the same Congress leaders who once called Anna Hazare an “RSS agent” — what will Congress supporters call Actor Vijay now?#TVKVijayHQ pic.twitter.com/MOSnBWXSrG
— Alok Kumar (@Kumaralok554) May 6, 2026
Anna Hazare’s campaign was famously directed against the Congress-led UPA government, which was battling an unprecedented wave of corruption allegations at the time. Ironically, the Congress called Hazare an ‘RSS agent’.
Fast forward to 2026, and the political landscape has drastically shifted. TVK emerged as the single-largest party with 108 seats, it will come down to 107 as Vijay has to let go of one of the seats he won, breaking the DMK-AIADMK duopoly but falling 10 seats short of a simple majority. Desperate to secure the chief ministership, Vijay reached out to the very same Congress party he once rallied against. The Congress, having abandoned its long-standing alliance with the DMK, agreed to support TVK conditionally – no other allies who are “communal forces”.
Vijay’s alliance with the Congress fundamentally contradicts his party’s stance against dynastic politics. TVK’s leadership has relentlessly criticized the DMK for operating as a “selfish family,” with Vijay publicly denouncing them for prioritizing familial succession over public welfare and using ideology to mask widespread looting. Following the 2026 election results, TVK’s national spokesperson Felix Gerald proudly proclaimed that the voters’ mandate was a clear rejection of “nepotism and family politics,” declaring it “the end of dynasty”.
Yet, by aligning with the Congress, Vijay is partnering with the ultimate symbol of dynastic rule in India. The Congress party’s deep-rooted culture of succession has even been criticized by its own senior leaders; just months prior to the election, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor published a scathing essay calling dynastic politics a “grave threat to Indian democracy” and pointing to the Nehru-Gandhi family’s influence as cementing the idea that “political leadership can be a birthright”. By climbing into bed with a party whose leadership structure is entirely reliant on the surname of its leaders and riddled with corruption, Vijay undermines the very foundation of his anti-dynasty, anti-corruption narrative.
It is said that politics often makes strange bedfellows, but TVK’s willingness to abandon its proclaimed values so early in its political journey is striking. Ultimately, Vijay’s grand promises of a “clean,” corruption-free, and merit-based government now ring hollow, casting a shadow over what was otherwise a historic electoral debut.
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