CHENNAI: Amid speculation regarding overtures from a section within the Congress for electoral alliance with actor Vijay’s TVK for the 2026 polls, the Grand Old Party on Thursday condemned the delay in issuing certificate for Vijay’s last movie ‘Jana Nayagan’ by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Girish Chodankar, the Congress’s TN in-charge, who is also leading the alliance negotiations with the ruling DMK, in a post on X addressed to the PM, alleged that the centre was targeting Vijay by creating hurdles for his movie. Chodankar blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for interfering with the decision of CBFC for political reasons. He challenged the PM by asking him to “prove 56-inch chest claim” by taking on Vijay, the politician, and not Vijay, the actor.
Interestingly, the Congress has emerged as the only leading party in TN to condemn the delay. Even the actor’s own party, TVK, has not blamed any political party or leader for the delay, which is suspected to have been caused by objections raised by the CBFC regarding certain scenes in the movie.
The rallying of a group of TNCC leaders behind Vijay on the issue has raised further doubts over Congress’s keenness to continue with its present and long-term ally, the ruling DMK. The relation has strained in recent days due to the repeated and vociferous assertion by a group of Congress functionaries that the DMK should not only share seats but also share power by forming a coalition government if the alliance wins the Assembly polls.
Chodankar in his post said that political disagreements are a part of democracy, and interference in creative expression was unacceptable. He asserted that cinema should not be subjected to censorship or pressure for political reasons and warned that such attempts would not be tolerated by the people of Tamil Nadu.
Further, All India Professionals’ Congress chairperson Praveen Chakravarty, who lent credibility to speculations that the national party was considering TVK as a potential ally by meeting Vijay, shared an older tweet by Rahul Gandhi. The 2017 tweet, which was a reaction to BJP leaders attacking Vijay’s then-released movie ‘Mersal’ for some dialogues inferred as an attack on the union government, said, “Mr Modi, cinema is a deep expression of Tamil culture and language. Don’t try to demonetise Tamil pride by interfering in Mersal”.
Others who rallied in support of Vijay by sharing Chodankar’s post on Thursday were party MPs Manickam B Tagore, S Jothimani and Vijay Vasanth. Though TNCC’s official X handle also shared Chodankar’s statement, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai and many other prominent party leaders did not second the criticism or extend support to the actor conspicuously.
