CHENNAI: The two-year-old Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) entered the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections with a question mark hanging over its fate. Would actor-turned-politician Vijay be able to convert his mass popularity into seats in the House? The party that seemed to be scrambling to find credible candidates to field across all 234 constituencies finally pulled off a surprise win that caught its opponents and even its own leadership off guard. In the 100-odd days since it formed the government, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and his team have proven they are no babe in the political woods, as assumed by many a detractor.
Within days of becoming the single largest party in the House and breaking the Dravidian duopoly that had dominated TN since 1967, the TVK stitched together an alliance to secure a majority and form the first coalition government in the state since Independence. In three months since coming to power, the TVK has finessed its political pitch, aligning with a Dravidian and Tamil nationalist ethos and a strong assurance of corruption-free governance.
A party that entered government with relatively little experience of running a conventional political organisation has since attracted former ministers, sitting MLAs and senior functionaries from the AIADMK, one of the two Dravidian majors, displaying a pragmatic streak in building a stronger conventional party apparatus with a grassroots presence.
The appointment of eight Dalit ministers and two Brahmin ministers, both the first-of-its-kind since 1967, has been part of the party’s political messaging. Even insiders admit its ideological stances on several other issues remain fluid or ambiguous. By choosing to ally with secular parties such as the Congress, VCK and the Left, the TVK managed to isolate the DMK politically in the state while simultaneously establishing credentials as a secular, anti-BJP force, without having to adopt a confrontationist approach with the national party. The party has also started developing a long-term identity by consistently pitching DMK as its rival to the exclusion of all other parties.
“Pitching DMK as the rival was intentional as we do not want to give any political credence to the other parties in the state, barring our alliance partners. The idea is to isolate DMK from its ideological friendly parties and prove TVK is better than DMK,” a senior TVK leader told TNIE.
However, TVK’s political pragmatism has come with its own problems. TVK’s ideological positions are still unresolved features, forcing the party to repeatedly clarify its stand on various issues, including NEET, delimitation and the importance for Tamil Thaai Vazhthu, through Assembly resolutions. In fact on NEET and delimitation, the party seems to be evolving its positions in real-time.
Although the party positions itself within the broad political vocabulary of the Dravidian tradition, invoking Periyar, Anna, social justice and state rights, it has avoided committing itself to sharper positions. Political analyst Sunilkumar believes the ambiguity may be deliberate.
“Rather than presenting itself as a Dravidian party, TVK appears to be constructing a broader political identity around welfare, representation, social justice and administrative governance, while retaining enough of the Dravidian ethos to establish its roots in the state,” Sunilkumar said. Party insiders claimed the TVK would rather implement its ideology through governance than talk about it.
The party’s elected representatives, most of them young and new to politics, are also in the process of learning their department subject as well as politics of the state.
“We are no longer just a fan-club, but a political party and we are in a position to face the press back in our districts if not in Chennai. What we speak there may not reach Chennai, but it matters locally. So, we do reach out to our seniors inside the party and our strategists whenever we have a confusion over taking a stand on issues,” a TVK MLA from delta region told TNIE.
During the first Assembly session, when DMK MLA and Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed the House and attacked the government, the CM did not respond on the floor, posting a response on social media hours later. On Friday, when Udhayanidhi challenged the CM to open files related to corruption, at least three TVK ministers responded to him on the floor.
At the same time, the party has not completely overcome its inexperience. In the Assembly, there have been instances where the speaker expunged more comments made by ruling-party ministers and MLAs than those by the opposition. Its biggest political challenge, however, may lie in reconciling its promise of clean governance in the manner in which it has expanded its political base.
The horse-trading allegations levelled against TVK have proved difficult for the party to shake off as six sitting MLAs, former MLAs and former ministers from AIADMK have joined the party. While the induction of experienced politicians can be seen as a pragmatic move to quickly build an organisation and consolidate power, it also raises questions on how an anti-corruption party reconciles that positioning with the induction of leaders who themselves have faced serious corruption allegations.
Meanwhile, the party has also started the restructuring process, increasing its district units from 120 to 147 to give space for the new entrants from other parties as well as positions for the sitting ministers, who were just party members until recently. It also faces the task of integrating its fan-based network from the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam and TVK with the cadre joining from other parties.
“While some of the sitting AIADMK MLAs who resigned and joined the party were given posts, most of us who joined were not given any posts, but we continue to guide the youngsters of TVK on the ground. They listen to us, but, unless we have a party position, it may not be smooth in the long term,” a former AIADMK minister, who joined TVK, told TNIE.
In 100 days, TVK has broken the state’s long-standing two-party system, formed its first coalition government in decades and attracted leaders from the very parties it sought to replace. But the same speed that has helped it consolidate power has also exposed its ideological ambiguity, contradictions in its anti-corruption promise, and the challenge of turning Vijay’s personal popularity into a coherent political organisation.
The real test for TVK is whether the party will remain Vijay’s party, or evolve into a political organisation capable of surviving after him.
By choosing to ally with Congress, VCK and the Left, the TVK managed to isolate the DMK politically in the state while simultaneously establishing credentials as a secular, anti-BJP force, without having to adopt a confrontationist approach with the national party. The party has also started developing a long-term identity by pitching DMK as its rival to the exclusion of all other parties
