TVK chief Vijay conducts a roadshow at Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on Wednesday EXPRESS PHOTO V.KARTHIKALAGU
Tamil Nadu

Off the cuff: Vijay’s ‘TVK vs DMK’ line blurs as supporters heckle NTK rallies

Incidents at campaign events, including Tiruchy, highlight a disconnect between TVK’s messaging and cadre actions on the ground

Express News Service

Leave no stone unturned

Even as Vijay stresses that this Assembly election is all about the “TVK vs DMK”, the one too many instances of heckling by his party supporters at campaign meetings of the NTK – also led by an actor – seem to contest it. A recent example played out in Tiruchy, where, ahead of Seeman’s Marakkadai campaign, a loud voice in the crowd objected to his party members’ criticism of Vijay. While the heckler was whisked away, similar scenes unfolding elsewhere too appears to show that some Vijay supporters are fighting a different election – one in which the NTK, and not the DMK, is the main rival

Pearson Lenekar SR

Vijay vs Vijay

Social media is abuzz with screenshots of “nomination lists” featuring independent candidates with names identical or similar to those fielded by the TVK. One even showed a ‘Vijay’ from Perambur, contesting not only from the constituency but from Tiruchy East as well. Party supporters, however, remain nonchalant, reasoning that the EVMs will display candidate photographs alongside the ‘whistle’ symbol. Such mischief is hardly new though, as was seen in the case of ex-AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam being pitted against five namesakes alone in the last Lok Sabha election

Subashini Vijayakumar

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