As more and more reports surface about how Joseph Vijay and his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rose to the level of capturing power within barely 2 years of formation, through the use of social media, internet and socially and psychologically capturing the minds of the public, more evidence keeps turning up about how this is a scam that TVK pulled off.
This was revealed when a UK-based Pakistani handle was seen sharing TN CM Vijay’s video and it was captioned “Actor Vijay Thalapathy issued orders for free electricity as soon as he became the Chief Minister.”
கட்சி ஆரம்பிக்கும் போது likes போட சுமார் 40,000க்கும் மேற்பட்ட பங்களாதேஷ் நாட்டை சார்ந்த தமிழ் என்ற முழினு ஒன்னு இருக்கானு கூட தெரியாதவன் எல்லாம் வச்சு likes , share , comments போட்டு பாருங்க தளபதி சாதனை என்று கிளப்பிவிட்டு Scam பண்ணினானுக – அப்போதே பல ID விவகாரத்தையும்… pic.twitter.com/v9mHnVXJYO
— Maridhas (@MaridhasAnswers) May 12, 2026
This strengthens the previous allegation against Vijay about engineering the ‘Instagram Million Likes’ scam. In August 2025, an Instagram post by Vijay went viral, reportedly crossing over 10 million likes within a day – an achievement widely circulated by local media and Vijay fans as a record-breaking moment. The post, a selfie video from Vijay’s second state-level TVK conference held in Madurai on 21 August 2025, stood at 12.5 million likes and 262,000 comments a week later, despite Vijay having just 14.1 million followers on the platform.
It stands at 19.5 million likes today with Vijay’s Instagram handle having 17.5 million followers.
The credibility of that viral success raised eyebrows and pointed to manipulated engagement, since the like count surpassed posts by global figures such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Virat Kohli – this number is highly unusual for a regional political figure.
A closer look at the post’s performance revealed several red flags:
- The video saw an engagement spike of over 11.6 million likes in less than 24 hours.
- Instagram analytics indicated a 4,392% increase in followers and a 1,013% jump in engagement ratio in just a week.
- The number of comments also soared by 2,843%, raising doubts about the authenticity of the interaction.
Such disproportionate growth in engagement especially compared to established global celebrities led many to suspect that the numbers are not organic but likely the result of third-party services, including bots or purchased likes and followers.
Perhaps the most damning evidence lay in the geographical source of the engagement. Data suggested:
- Only 1.02% of likes were from Tamil Nadu, the core of Vijay’s fan base.
- A significant portion 38% originated from states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar, where Vijay’s political or film-related influence is minimal.
- 26% of engagement came from Assam, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, and another 18% from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab.
Given Tamil Nadu’s population demographics, especially among the Instagram-active youth (ages 20–35), it was highly unlikely for a political post to achieve such traction particularly when most engagement comes from regions with little to no connection to Vijay or his political outfit, TVK.
This isn’t the first time Vijay’s social media strategies have come under scrutiny. In an earlier incident, it was alleged that his team had purchased a Facebook page that previously belonged to a actress fan page to inflate their follower count, presenting an illusion of mass support online.
Social Media Manipulation Repeat?
The August 2025 post could have been another manufactured publicity stunt, estimating that such engagement inflation could cost anywhere between ₹40 to ₹50 lakh, if done through paid engagement platforms. The goal was to project Vijay as a politically powerful figure with mass appeal using numbers that don’t hold up to scrutiny.
What appears to be a viral success on social media could have been a strategic digital façade aimed at inflating political credibility.
Taken together, these instances are once again fuelling allegations that TVK’s digital popularity may have been carefully manufactured rather than entirely organic. What was projected as a massive spontaneous wave of public support increasingly resembles a coordinated perception-management operation built on suspicious engagement spikes, questionable geographical patterns and aggressive social media amplification. Whether these patterns are merely the byproduct of viral politics or evidence of a larger digital manipulation ecosystem remains unanswered, but the questions surrounding TVK’s online rise are clearly not going away.
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