Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has released a social media video mocking the DMK and AIADMK, portraying the two former rivals as having reached an understanding over the upcoming by-elections and suggesting that voters will reject both parties.
The video takes repeated digs at Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), with a satirical sequence depicting the two parties as being on the same side while continuing to engage in abusive and derogatory political rhetoric.
The accompanying Tamil caption describes the alleged arrangement as a “dealing” between former enemies who have now become partners.
The caption reads, “The dealing of those who were once enemies but have now become partners!
‘Madurantakam is for you (evil force)…
Dharapuram is for me and others…
I will not cross this boundary, and neither should you…’
Thus dividing the constituencies between themselves, the two partners are now facing the by-elections.”
The reference to dividing constituencies is used by TVK to mock the alleged understanding between the DMK and AIADMK. The post then turns to the campaign rhetoric of the two parties.
TVK alleges that one side is campaigning by adopting what it calls the DMK’s “vulgar politics”, while the other is allowing the same kind of rhetoric to continue without directly attacking either the AIADMK or its supposed partner.
The caption further compares the AIADMK’s alleged political transformation to someone who has forgotten why he came somewhere and instead became a “full-time cook”.
It accuses the AIADMK of forgetting why MGR founded the party separately from the DMK and claims that the party has now been turned into a “branch organisation of the DMK”.
TVK concludes its post by saying that voters in the two constituencies where the by-elections are being held will “subtract” the calculations of the two alleged partners.
பகையாளிகளாக இருந்து பங்காளிகளானவர்களின் dealing!
“மதுராந்தகம் உனக்கு(தீயசக்தி)…
தாராபுரம் எனக்கு(மற்றும் பலர்)…
இந்தக் கோட்டைத் தாண்டி நானும் வர மாட்டேன், நீயும் வரக்கூடாது…”என்று தொகுதிகளைப் பிரித்துக்கொண்டு, பங்காளிகள் இருவரும் இடைத்தேர்தலை சந்திக்கிறார்கள்.
திமுகவின்… pic.twitter.com/9ldp43tPNY
— TVK IT Wing Official (@TVKHQITWingOffl) October 1, 2026
EPS, Stalin Shown Seeking Parrot Astrology Prediction; Hindu Symbols Derogated
The video then shifts to another satirical sequence involving EPS and Stalin.
Both leaders are depicted approaching a kili josiyam practitioner, a traditional form of parrot astrology, apparently to find out whether they can secure victory in the by-elections.
The parrot picks a card, but instead of revealing a conventional prediction, the video shows a naamam, the distinctive Vaishnavite religious symbol traditionally worn on the forehead by devotees of Vishnu.
The use of the naamam as the punchline of the sequence has raised a separate question about TVK’s treatment of Hindu religious imagery.
.@RameshOffcl இதில் உங்களுக்கு உடன்பாடு இருக்கா? “அழகருக்கும்” உடன்பாடு இருக்கா? அழகரை பழிப்பது தான் அரசியலா? திருநாமம் இழிவானதா? @arunraajkg @AdvocateVenkatP @KASengottaiyan @vinothravi11 https://t.co/aCGd11OckR pic.twitter.com/AUX7Z8sl8K
— Arun Ramesh 🇮🇳 (@arun10venkat) October 1, 2026
Vijay has repeatedly presented TVK as a secular political alternative and has spoken of treating all communities equally. Against that backdrop, critics are questioning why a Hindu religious symbol, specifically a Vaishnavite naamam, has been used as a visual device for ridicule in a political attack.
TVK = DMK: Hence Proved
The controversy also recalls how the DMK has over the years normalised the use of Hindu and Brahmin religious symbols in political communication to derogate the community.
DMK leaders and supporters have used Hindu religious markers, including the naamam and other symbols associated with Brahmin and Vaishnavite identities, in derogatory comparisons involving deception or being fooled.
TVK’s latest video has consequently prompted a broader question about the political culture Vijay had promised to change.
TVK was launched and came to power promising to be an alternative to the established Dravidian parties. We have many a time indicated that the TVK and the DMK are no different. Now, with each passing day and especially this video which makes use of Hindu religious imagery as a punchline does not mark a departure from Dravidianist political culture but proves TVK is a continuation of it.
The video may be intended as satire aimed at the DMK and AIADMK. But the inclusion of the naamam makes Vijay’s claim of equal respect for all communities worthless, particularly when the symbol itself is used to deliver the joke.
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