Mumbai: Nearly 1,200km away from their home state, Tamils in Mumbai were surprised as the victory of a rank newcomer—film star ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay, the founder of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)—shook the political ground beneath the feet of established parties like DMK and AIADMK. They attributed the churn to youth seeking change as well as overall discontent with the alleged anti-Hindu stance adopted by governing politicians.TVK was seen as a dark horse. As the results streamed in, it won 107 seats. CM M K Stalin’s DMK finished a distant second with 60 and E K Palaniswami’s AIADMK came in third with 47 seats. From temples, cafes and flower markets in Matunga and Sion to tiffin joints and dosa stalls in Dharavi and Chembur, the Tamil community gathered to discuss the results. Disbelief was quickly followed by justification. “Just like Indians gave a chance to Rajiv Gandhi after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the people of Tamil Nadu gave a chance to Stalin after his father M Karunanidhi’s death. But they saw that corruption remained the same,” said Vignesh Thevar, a Matunga florist. V Shankar, president of Shanmukhananda Sabha and South Indian Education Society, said, “Change always brings hope for improvement. Only time will tell. But people have voted against parties that had trampled on the faith of citizens.” Matunga resident K A Viswanathan said it is a practice in Tamil Nadu that the entry to politics is through cinema. “People are crazy about film stars. No wonder Vijay won. Moreover, people were fed up with DMK and AIADMK and wanted change.” Rajamani of Mani’s Cafe said, “Tamil youth mainly wanted to change the duopoly of Dravidian parties. Vijay came in at the right time. People now expect development in education and eradication of corruption as his campaign made many promises.” Gloom pervaded DMK’s office in Dharavi. M Jesuraj, president in charge, Mumbai DMK, said, “In Tamil Nadu, emotional sentiment and blind devotion toward film icons is a bane. Stalin turned Tamil Nadu into India’s leading state in five years. Currently, we are seeing a popular actor leveraging his massive fan base for political gain despite lacking a clear ideology, core principles or a framework for leading his cadre.”
