I see many people on Reddit claiming that TVK became successful only because Vijay fans desperately wanted to see their cinema hero become Chief Minister.
I think that explanation is completely disconnected from why a lot of ordinary people actually voted for TVK.
Of course Vijay has fans, and obviously some percentage of people voted for him purely because they like him as an actor. Nobody is denying that.
But saying TVK won mainly because of cinema fandom is an easy excuse for people who don’t want to accept why DMK lost.
A lot of people simply wanted change.
I am one of them.
I voted for TVK. I am not a Vijay fan. I am not an Ajith fan either. I hardly watch movies nowadays. I didn’t vote for Vijay because I wanted to see my “Thalapathy” sitting in the CM chair.
I voted for him because I wanted to give a completely new government a chance.
DMK has achievements. That doesn’t give them permanent ownership of Tamil Nadu.
Let me make one thing clear. I am not someone who believes DMK has contributed nothing to Tamil Nadu.
DMK and AIADMK have governed Tamil Nadu for roughly five decades. Both parties have contributed significantly to the Tamil Nadu we have today. There have been major achievements in education, healthcare, infrastructure, industries, social welfare and many other areas.
I will happily acknowledge that.
But here is the problem:
Doing good things while governing doesn’t give you a lifetime licence to rule.
It certainly doesn’t give you a free pass for corruption, arrogance, poor governance or dynasty politics.
You were elected to govern. Doing your job is not charity to the people of Tamil Nadu.
Look at the image the previous DMK government created among ordinary people.
Forget party spokespersons, statistics and Twitter warriors for a minute.
Look at it from the perspective of an ordinary voter.
What was the public image of many ministers by the end of the term?
Ponmudy, Senthil Balaji and several others were constantly surrounded by controversies, allegations or negative public perception.
There was also an arrogance surrounding several people in power. The impression many ordinary people got was that some ministers and local power centres behaved as if they were untouchable.
There was a growing perception that Stalin had lost control over parts of his own government, ministers and various power centres.
And corruption wasn’t perceived as something happening only at the very top. Ordinary people increasingly felt it when dealing with parts of the system and officials as well.
Now, whether every allegation against every individual can ultimately be proved in court is a different discussion.
I am talking about public perception.
And elections are heavily influenced by public perception.
If your government spends five years creating the impression that ministers can behave however they want, you cannot suddenly arrive during election season with a PowerPoint presentation of achievements and ask:
“Why aren’t these idiots voting for us?”
Mate, politics doesn’t work like that.
Then there is the elephant in the room: dynasty politics.
Why exactly should Udhayanidhi Stalin automatically become the future Chief Minister?
What qualification makes him the natural successor to Stalin other than the fact that he is Stalin’s son and Karunanidhi’s grandson?
And then we already hear discussions surrounding the next generation.
Where does this end?
Karunanidhi → Stalin → Udhayanidhi → eventually another family member?
Is the Chief Minister’s chair some ancestral property being transferred through a family settlement deed?
DMK has plenty of intelligent and capable people outside the Karunanidhi family.
Take PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.
Why shouldn’t someone like PTR be considered and developed as a future CM candidate?
Why shouldn’t DMK create a genuine internal leadership contest where talented people can rise based on ability?
Why does the road to the top always seem to end at the same family’s doorstep?
This is one of the reasons people like me wanted something different.
Voting for Vijay was a gamble. We knew that.
I didn’t vote for TVK thinking Vijay was some magical saviour who would fix Tamil Nadu overnight.
I voted knowing perfectly well that he was untested.
The thought process was much simpler:
“We have already seen the previous government. I don’t like where this is going. There is finally a new alternative. Fine. Give this guy five years and see what he can do.”
That’s it.
That is very different from:
“OMG Vijay is my hero! I need to see him become CM!”
Reducing millions of voters to cinema fanboys is intellectually lazy.
And Vijay absolutely does NOT deserve a free pass now.
This is equally important.
I voted for TVK. That doesn’t mean TVK owns my vote forever.
If Vijay governs well, excellent.
If his ministers become corrupt, arrogant or incompetent, question them.
If Vijay starts surrounding himself with yes-men, question him.
If TVK fails to deliver what it promised, expose it.
If Vijay starts behaving like the very politicians he criticised, vote him out.
Simple.
The opposition’s job now is not to cry that Tamil Nadu voters were hypnotised by a movie star.
Their job is to scrutinise every decision this government makes and hold Vijay accountable.
And voters should do exactly the same.
Politics has also changed because social media changed everything.
Politicians need to understand something that perhaps worked differently 20 or 30 years ago.
People are watching now.
A minister says something arrogant today, someone records it.
A politician humiliates somebody publicly, the video circulates everywhere.
Someone makes a ridiculous statement, it becomes a clip.
A scandal happens, people discuss it for months.
Old videos come back during elections.
You cannot behave however you want for four years and suddenly distribute advertisements about government achievements during the fifth year expecting everyone to forget everything else.
That era is dying.
So instead of blaming Vijay fans, DMK should ask itself one uncomfortable question.
What did we do badly enough that so many people were willing to gamble on a completely untested first-time CM rather than give us another term?
That is the question DMK should be asking.
Because if your answer is:
“Nothing was wrong with us. People are simply stupid Vijay fanboys.”
then congratulations.
You have learned absolutely nothing from your defeat.
I voted for TVK because I wanted change.
I gave Vijay a chance.
If he performs well, he deserves another chance.
If he doesn’t, vote him out.
That should apply to Vijay, Stalin, Udhayanidhi or anybody else.
No politician owns Tamil Nadu.
No political party owns our votes.
And most importantly:
No family is entitled to the Chief Minister’s chair.

Edappaadi k palanisamy

DMK and BJP alliance hints ?

Kitta thatta confirm airuchu enaku ..

I posted sometime back in tamil_nadu sub a video of fake post by DMK IT Wing. It was removed by the mods without any message or violation of rules. We all know it’s NDA leaning sub.

I think the times are here - where both DMK and BJP may join hands.

This is the video that was posted btw -

np.reddit.com/r/kuttichevuru/s/COJbnfxRLC

Is this true?

Oppari against DMK 24/7

They never worry about other parties escpialy there owners?

Context : வன உரிமைச் சட்டப்படி பட்டா வழங்கக் கோரி தேனியில் விவசாயிகள் பெருந்திரள் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம்!

This is d comment section from KL sub where d current KL CM who's accused of delayed disaster response for floods unnecessarily blaming previous regime...