CHENNAI: After launching evening tuition centres and legal assistance cells in each Assembly constituency to support the underprivileged, actor Vijay’s fan club has started establishing libraries across the state. This is perceived as the actor’s attempt to garner widespread support from both fans and the general public ahead of his political plunge.
In the latest directive from the actor, conveyed through Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkham (TVMI), his fan club’s functionaries have been instructed to set up libraries across the state. According to sources, 11 libraries have been established in Balaji Nagar and Mummoorthi Nagar in Tambaram, three places in Krishnagiri district, Ariyalur, Namakkal and Chennai.
Sources said plans are afoot to set up 21 more libraries in the second phase on November 23. These will be established across five places in Tirunelveli district, four places in Coimbatore district, three places in Erode district, two places in Tenkasi district, and Salem, Pudukkottai, Karur, Sivaganga, Dindigul, Kanniyakumari, and Tiruppur districts. However, there isn’t much clarity on who is funding these facilities.
ECR P Saravanan, district president of Chennai rural district TVMI, told TNIE, “We run two evening tuition centres at Sholinganallur and Alandur in our region, through which around 100 students benefit. We have planned to establish a library at Sholinganallur in the coming week. It will be set up on 250 sqft with around 400 books and can accommodate 15-20 readers at a given time.”
Another district-level functionary, on condition of anonymity, said, “We were told that the aim of the library is to help government service aspirants. Our library will have books to prepare for competitive examinations.”
Commenting over Vijay’s latest move, veteran political observer D Karthik said, “In the initial days of the Dravidian movement, DK and DMK established street-corner libraries and spread their ideology among masses. According to my knowledge, this is the first attempt by an actor’s fans to establish libraries. However, the impact on voters is uncertain as Vijay is yet to disclose his ideology, and this may right now be viewed as a mere attention-seeking exercise.”