How Vijay, Rahul Gandhi chemistry over 17 years proved glue for TVK, Congress alliance

Long before Vijay formally entered politics and launched the TVK in 2024, Congress leaders had already viewed him as ideologically aligned with the party, with early conversations between the actor and Rahul Gandhi in 2009 fuelling speculation about a possible political partnership.

Congress leaders recall a meeting Vijay had with Gandhi in August 2009, months after the Congress returned to power in the Lok Sabha elections with an improved mandate from 2004. Was Vijay — who had by then starred in nearly 50 films and earned the moniker “Ilaya Thalapathy” — inclined to join the Congress, or was Gandhi keen to bring him into the party fold? The answer perhaps lies somewhere in between.

The two have remained in touch intermittently since then. Gandhi telephoned Vijay after the actor formally entered politics in 2024 with the launch of the TVK. Vijay, in turn, called Gandhi to wish him on his birthday last year. The two also spoke after the Karur stampede and again after Vijay’s stunning electoral debut in the recent Tamil Nadu polls.

Congress sources said the 2009 meeting was facilitated by then NSUI national secretary Gopinath Palaniyappan, who lost to the TVK candidate in Erode (East) in this election. Congress leaders say Vijay’s father, S A Chandrasekhar, leaned towards the Congress and had accompanied his son to meet Gandhi in Delhi. The meeting had triggered intense speculation in Tamil Nadu over Vijay’s political ambitions.

According to Congress leaders, Palaniyappan, who knew Vijay personally, arranged the interaction. Gandhi was then in charge of the Youth Congress and was attempting to democratise the organisation through internal elections. Vijay had already floated the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, an outfit ostensibly focused on social service but widely seen as an effort to convert his fan base into a political constituency.

What transpired during the meeting, which Vijay later said took place at Gandhi’s initiative, has remained a subject of interest. Vijay later recalled that one of his well-wishers had conveyed Gandhi’s invitation. “At first I thought it could even be a prank. But it was a good opportunity… not everyone gets such a chance. I am not such a big person for Rahul to meet me. But I felt the opportunity should not be missed. One day I cancelled my shootings, went to Delhi with my father and met him at his residence,” Vijay had said in remarks that are now viral on social media.

Vijay said he was struck by the warmth with which Gandhi received him. “He is working hard to bring about change in India. He is focusing on the youth. We all know the steps he took during the recent Parliament elections and the results because of that… For such a person to meet me is a matter of pride for me, my fans and the people of Tamil Nadu,” he had said.

The two reportedly spoke for over an hour about politics, cinema and the Makkal Iyakkam. Congress sources claim Gandhi even offered Vijay the post of Tamil Nadu Youth Congress chief. There were also plans for Vijay to share the stage with Gandhi at a public meeting in Coimbatore in September 2009. Vijay, however, backed out at the last minute and later denied reports that he was planning to join the Congress. Even so, he indicated that he was open to entering politics in the future.

A Congress leader claimed Vijay was then keen to join the party. “He was nearing 35. Rahul instead asked him to contest for the post of Youth Congress president, which he would have easily won. But nothing materialised. There was pressure from the DMK on Vijay not to proceed. The Tamil film industry is controlled by the extended Karunanidhi family,” the leader said.

Congress leaders now say the TVK’s decision to align with the Congress is not unexpected, arguing that Vijay’s ideological position has long been closer to that of the Congress and that their alliance was a natural progression.

“We had a meeting with Vijay when he was in Delhi in 2009. We discussed the NSUI — what it does and how it differs from the ABVP. I do not remember the entire conversation, but I distinctly recall him saying secularism was one of the strongest pillars of the Constitution. He did not believe in communal politics,” recalled Congress leader Ragini Nayak, who had met Vijay at the time.

Nayak was then NSUI general secretary. She met Vijay along with then NSUI president Hibi Eden, NSUI national general secretary Ashok Basoya and Palaniyappan.

Vijay had displayed political instincts even then. In April 2009, he and his fans observed an eight-hour fast in Chennai in solidarity with Sri Lankan Tamils and declared that they would not remain mute spectators when Tamils were in distress. “He could have aligned with the AIADMK minus the BJP to form the government. But he chose to align with the Congress because our ideologies are similar,” a Congress leader said.

Vijay has often cited five reformers as his inspirations — K Kamaraj, Periyar, Velu Nachiyar, Anjalai Ammal and B R Ambedkar. Kamaraj, who became Chief Minister of the erstwhile Madras state in 1954, was among the Congress’s tallest leaders in Tamil Nadu, though he later sided with its syndicate faction after Indira Gandhi was expelled from the party in 1969.