The rally was Vijay’s first major public appearance inOpening his address, Vijay referred to Erode as the land of manjal (turmeric), saying the district symbolised the lives and labour of ordinary people. (PTI Photo)
Actor-turned-politician Vijay returned to the public stage Tuesday and made a pointed comparison — Puducherry’s government, he said, treated his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) with fairness, unlike Tamil Nadu’s ruling party. The DMK, he claimed, will only “learn” after the 2026 Assembly elections.
From his custom campaign vehicle, Vijay told a tightly regulated crowd at Uppalam Ground in Puducherry, “It will be good if Tamil Nadu’s DMK regime learns from the impartial Puducherry government. But they will not learn now. The people of Tamil Nadu will make them learn in 2026 — 100 per cent.”
The rally was Vijay’s first major public appearance in the Union Territory, and his first large-scale meeting since the September stampede in Karur that killed 41 of his supporters. The event, limited to around 5,000 attendees using QR code for access, had a visible focus on crowd regulation, with metal detectors, screening stations, and a cordoned stage flanked by police.
However, there was one security incident when police recovered a pistol from an attendee at the entry point. The man, identified as David, claimed to be an ex-serviceman and a bodyguard for a senior TVK leader. He was taken for questioning as officers verified his gun licence.
While criticising the ruling governments in Tamil Nadu and at the Centre, Vijay also sought to push a claim of belonging in Puducherry, where he now plans to contest the 2026 Assembly election. “For 30 years, you have shown affection to me,” Vijay told the crowd. “I will give a voice to the people of Puducherry too.”
He framed Puducherry’s long-pending demand for statehood as a generational injustice neglected by New Delhi. The Legislative Assembly, he said, had passed 16 resolutions over the years, yet the Centre “still sees Puducherry as less than a full State”. “Geographically, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry may be separate,” he said, adding, “but the central government is the only one that sees them as different. We are together. We are united.”
He listed governance gaps: stalled industrial growth, the absence of IT parks, closure of textile mills, poor drinking-water infrastructure, the exclusion of Puducherry from Finance Commission formulae, and the “humiliating” delay in allocating a portfolio to BJP legislator A John Kumar months after his induction into the Cabinet. “An entire community feels insulted,” he said.
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Continuing barbs against his main target, the DMK, he said, “Do not trust the DMK. They will try to make you believe, but in the end, they will cheat you.”
Meanwhile, in Perundurai in Tamil Nadu, party coordinator K A Sengottaiyan said police had placed 84 compliance conditions on TVK’s upcoming rally at Erode in Tamil Nadu, questioning weather preparedness, ID vetting, and district-wise attendance. Such scrutiny, he said, was unprecedented. The meeting, originally planned for December 16, has now been moved to December 18. If permission is denied again, he said, the party will go to court.
Arun Janardhanan is an experienced and authoritative Tamil Nadu correspondent for The Indian Express. Based in the state, his reporting combines ground-level access with long-form clarity, offering readers a nuanced understanding of South India’s political, judicial, and cultural life - work that reflects both depth of expertise and sustained authority.
Expertise
Geographic Focus: As Tamil Nadu Correspondent focused on politics, crime, faith and disputes, Janardhanan has been also reporting extensively on Sri Lanka, producing a decade-long body of work on its elections, governance, and the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings through detailed stories and interviews.
Key Coverage Areas:
State Politics and Governance: Close reporting on the DMK and AIADMK, the emergence of new political actors such as actor Vijay’s TVK, internal party churn, Centre–State tensions, and the role of the Governor.
Legal and Judicial Affairs: Consistent coverage of the Madras High Court, including religion-linked disputes and cases involving state authority and civil liberties.
Investigations: Deep-dive series on landmark cases and unresolved questions, including the Tirupati encounter and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, alongside multiple investigative series from Tamil Nadu.
Culture, Society, and Crisis: Reporting on cultural organisations, language debates, and disaster coverage—from cyclones to prolonged monsoon emergencies—anchored in on-the-ground detail.
His reporting has been recognised with the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Beyond journalism, Janardhanan is also a screenwriter; his Malayalam feature film Aarkkariyam was released in 2021. ... Read More
