Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder, actor-politician Vijay, kicked off his campaign for the 2026 Assembly election in Tiruchirappalli on Saturday, receiving a huge welcome from his party members and supporters.
Addressing supporters at Marakkadai, where a public meeting was held after an hours-long rally, he launched an attack on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government, and asked whether the party had fulfilled all of its promises made during the 2021 Assembly polls.
A caravan-like, custom-built campaign vehicle, fitted with a public address system, is being used for Vijay’s campaign. The campaign bus has brightly painted images of iconic leaders, including CN Annadurai and MG Ramachandran, and also features the campaign slogan, “I am coming.”
Meanwhile, upon his arrival at the airport from Chennai by a chartered flight, enthusiastic TVK members, waving party flags, broke through barricades to get a better view of their leader. The crowd, which included women, surged forward, forcing Vijay's campaign bus to move at a crawl. From inside the bus, he waved to his supporters, who were wearing party-flag-themed headgear and holding up his photos.
The large gathering of TVK members on motorbikes and in cars brought traffic in the city to a standstill, causing diversions and significant inconvenience for the public. The campaign bus took hours to cover even a short distance, meaning Vijay was unable to reach the rally venue at Marakkadai MGR statue point for over two and a half hours, even though he was originally scheduled to begin his speech at 10:35 am.
Frenzied supporters climbed trees, poles, and other structures, and gathered on the sides of flyovers to get a good vantage point. Groups dressed in dark yellow performed traditional cultural songs, and many female TVK members performed a traditional welcome with 'Poornakumham'.
A large number of fans had arrived at the venue early that morning from nearby areas, including Manapparai, to hear the TVK chief's address. Several people reportedly fainted from exhaustion and were taken to hospital.
Publicity materials displayed slogans such as "Tiruppumunaye (Turning point)" and "Muthalvarey (Chief Minister)" to welcome the politician.
Vijay arrived at the airport at 9:40 am, and his bus moved at a snail's pace through the crowds, resembling a huge procession. It took him about an hour to get out of the airport premises and almost four hours to travel the six-kilometre journey to the venue. As time went on, more and more people joined the crowd, following Vijay's bus.
People were seen jostling and competing with one another to get closer to the bus, raising fears of a stampede in several spots. Police had reportedly imposed over 20 conditions for the rally, which is the first campaign tour for Vijay since he founded the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
Also read: Actor Vijay’s politics limited to weekends, says Annamalai
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