Tamil superstar 'Thalapathy' Vijay recently honoured Class 10 and Class 12 toppers at a grand event organised by the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, which handles several philanthropic activities.
The actor who is celebrating his 49th birthday on Thursday called the young students present at the June 17 event as the "voters of tomorrow."
The actor also encouraged them to "read about everything, till the extent possible; read about leaders like Ambedkar, Periyar, Kamaraj. Take what’s good and leave the rest."
Vijay also touched upon the common practice of giving cash for votes in his speech at the event. “Consider a politician who gives Rs 1,000 to a voter in a constituency that has 1.5 lakh voters. How much he must have given as bribe — nearly 15 crore? If a person gives a bribe of Rs 15 crore, think how much he must have earned before that. I want all this to be a part of your educational system,” the actor said to applause from the students and parents gathered.
"You (the students) are the future voters. You are the ones who will select the next good leaders. We are poking our own eyes with our hands, by getting money for votes. There will be a change if you go and tell your parents that they should not get money to vote," Vijay said.
Vijay also spoke about the impact a powerful dialogue by Dhanush's character in the 2019 film 'Asuran' had on him --- "if you have land, they will take it away, if you have money, they will take it away, but education alone, they can never take it away from us, Chidambaram". "I wanted to do something for education, which is an integral part of life. This has been going on in my mind for so long, and now is the right time to do so," Vijay said at the event where he gave certificates and rewards to the high-achievers.
He also mentioned that education is beyond what is taught in classrooms.
The actor ended his speech with the phrase "Valarpom kalvi, Valarga en kutty nanba nanbis" ("let us nurture education, and may all my little friends grow").
Political analysts have told media that the June 17 event could be a great start for Vijay's entry into politics. All eyes are on how he is going to capitalise on his stardom.