Tamil Nadu 2026 Verdict: Lessons TVK can take from the other ‘Vijay’ who dazzled state politics 15 years ago

So, how did DMDK spectacularly rise in 2011, and what happened to it in the elections thereafter? And are there any lessons for TVK, the newest kid on the block? We explain.

A ‘captain’ emerges

In September 2005, actor Vijayakanth — affectionately called “Captain” by his fans — established the DMDK. Days before he jumped into the electoral fray, he had signalled that he wanted his political party to become an alternative to the Dravidian party hegemony that had existed since 1967, when a DMK-led coalition defeated the then incumbent Congress to form the government. “I am the alternative now. They [people] have immense and spontaneous faith in me,” he had said in an interview.

 

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From the time of his party’s launch, he tried to lay claim to the legacy of AIADMK founder and former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran (MGR) — another actor-turned-politician who pioneered the culture of film stars entering Tamil Nadu politics. At a rally, he arrived in a blue van MGR had once used for his campaigns. Vijayakanth was even dubbed “Karuppu MGR” (Dark MGR). And like MGR, he too leveraged his cinematic roles to gather public support.

Although it won just one seat in the 2006 Tamil Nadu Assembly election (Vridhachalam, where Vijayakanth himself won) despite contesting all 234 seats, its vote share of 8.4% — with a 10% or more share in seven districts — in what was its electoral debut was considered impressive by many. The DMK-led alliance emerged victorious, winning over 160 seats.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, however, DMDK drew a blank as the DMK-Congress combine (27) prevailed in most of Tamil Nadu’s 39 Lok Sabha seats, with the AIADMK-led alliance winning the rest (12). Still, it garnered over 10% of the state’s overall vote share.

But 2011 brought DMDK its moment of glory. Ahead of the election, it changed tack and entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK. That year, the AIADMK-led alliance achieved a decisive victory, winning over 150 seats all by itself. DMDK, which fought as part of this alliance, emerged as the second largest party with 29 seats with a vote share of 7.9%. The incumbent DMK-led alliance was reduced to 31 seats, with DMK’s own tally a mere 23 — a steep drop from the 100 it won in 2006.

Senthoorapandi (1993) starred both Vijay and Vijayakanth.

Vijayakanth termed the results a “people’s victory”. Then, he said in a press conference that his party propelled the AIADMK-led front to victory and that if he had contested alone, DMK would have returned to power.

Soon after, he walked out of his alliance with AIADMK and chose to be the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.

The fall

Ahead of the 2014 general election, DMDK tied up with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). From the number of seats allocated alone, it seemed that DMDK was leading the rainbow coalition with 84 seats, followed by BJP with 54 seats. But as things turned out, DMDK ended up being the worst performer in the alliance, winning zero seats and securing only just over 5% of the state’s vote share (NDA overall got 18.8%).

Despite expectations that the party would join the DMK fold ahead of the 2016 Assembly election, DMDK decided to fight the polls as part of a third front — the People’s Welfare Front comprising the Vaiko-led Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Tamila Maanila Congress (Moopanar). In the 104 seats DMDK contested, its candidates lost their deposits in 103: this included Vijayakanth in Ulundurpet in what turned out to be his last electoral fight. With its vote share falling to a mere 2.4%, it was stripped of its recognition as a “state party”.

Since then, its electoral fortunes have only dipped. In 2019, it returned to the AIADMK-led combine but managed to win none of the four seats it contested; its vote share was 2.2%. In the 2021 state election, it tied up with the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (a breakaway outfit by former AIADMK members established after Jayalalithaa’s death) but forfeited its deposit in all 60 seats it contested. Its vote share dropped further to 0.4%.

On December 28, 2023, Vijayakanth passed away at the age of 71.

Why DMDK faltered — and lessons for TVK

Ahead of the 2026 Assembly election, DMDK decided to join the DMK-led alliance. In February 2026, DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakanth (Vijayakanth’s wife) announced the tie-up, saying that the “decision was taken on the basis of the opinion poll we conducted among party district secretaries”. This was seen as a last resort for the party rapidly losing its appeal.

But why did DMDK falter the way it did? In an analysis of DMDK’s election outcomes ahead of the 2016 state Assembly election, Praveen Chakravarty, then a Fellow in Political Economy with the Mumbai-based IDFC Institute (he later joined the Congress in 2018), pointed out that the party’s popularity among voters was “extremely over-rated”.

In 2020, Chennai-based senior journalist M Kalyanaraman wrote about the possible reasons why DMDK’s electoral fortunes declined after 2011. According to Kalyanaraman, the DMDK chief, who had pledged to play the part of a constructive opposition by raising people’s concerns effectively in the Assembly, was weighed down by ill-health. Further, Vijayakanth was ridiculed and trolled on social media, and his political flip-flops resulted in him losing credibility.

Moreover, Tamil Nadu’s history of third parties — even those with statewide appeal — failing to gain ground in a first-past-the-post system also worked against DMDK.

When Vijay finally made his electoral foray with TVK in early 2024, he had made it clear that he would contest the 2026 Assembly election. In a letter, he wrote: “As far as I am concerned, politics is not just another profession; it is a sacred service to the people… I wish to fully immerse myself in politics for public service… This is what I consider my gratitude and duty to the people of Tamil Nadu.”

With Vijay looking to emerge as Tamil Nadu’s “Thalapathy”, one thing has remained constant: the state’s love affair with actors-turned politicians.