Films' 'savior' C Joseph Vijay becomes new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: The story of the political rise of a Tamil film hero

 

Films' 'savior' C Joseph Vijay becomes new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: The story of the political rise of a Tamil film hero

Days after political turmoil gripped the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, film hero C. Joseph Vijay has been sworn in as the new chief minister.

Vijay's swearing-in ceremony was held at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai, attended by several prominent figures including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other film industry actors.

Nine other ministers, including Vijay, took oath during the ceremony.

The new party, Tamil Nadu Vidyarthi Kadgam, founded by 51-year-old Vijay, won 108 of the 234 seats in the assembly elections. This left him just 10 seats short of becoming the majority party.

India's largest opposition party, the Congress, which has five seats, had announced its support for C. Joseph Vijay within hours of the results. However, state Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar insisted that clear proof of the support of the 118 members required to form the government be presented.

Vijay's victory on Saturday night came after he secured the support of several smaller parties.

On Friday afternoon, three smaller parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Vidhuthalai Cheruthaigal Katchi (VCK), also announced their support for the 'TVK'. These three parties have two seats each.

The hero in the movies has now become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Governor criticized

Vijay enjoys immense popularity among the youth and women of Tamil Nadu and his fans are overjoyed with his victory.

His party leaders and allies had criticized the governor for not inviting Vijay to form the government.

The actor met Governor Arlekar for the first time on Wednesday and staked claim to form the next government. They met again on Thursday.

A few hours later, a press release was issued by the Governor's office explaining that "the majority support required to form a government in the Legislative Assembly could not be proven."

Analysts say the Governor's priority is to ensure the formation of a stable government that can prove its majority in the Assembly.

However, some constitutional experts say there are several instances where the Governor has invited the single largest party or alliance to form the government and given them time to prove their majority in the House.

They say it is unfair to deprive Vijay of this opportunity.

The state's politics have for decades been dominated by two regional parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India AIADMK (AIADMK), which have alternated in power.

The TVK, contrary to expectations, broke the two-party system and emerged as the single largest party in the state elections.

In the last 48 hours, when the future of TVK was in doubt, Indian media has been reporting all sorts of possible political maneuvering. There was also the possibility that the two parties that lost the elections could try to form a government together.

Tamil Nadu has long seen a fusion of cinema and power, and Vijay has entered politics, following in the footsteps of film stars Ramachandran and his successor Jayalalithaa, who led the state for decades.

Unlike them, however, Vijay has no political experience.

Soon after the formation of TVK in 2024, he announced that he would retire from films to devote time to politics.

‘Saviors’ in films

The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has a long political tradition and cinema and politics have always gone hand in hand here, and film personalities have been taking advantage of their popularity in the political arena as well.

Actors like MG Ramachandran, Jayalalithaa, Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Khushboo and Vijayakanth have also achieved success in the political arena after showing their essence in films.

Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister of the state for more than 14 years on different occasions between 1991 and 2016.

Now Joseph Vijay is also ready to join this list.

MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa had separated from the film world before coming to power. But Kamal Haasan’s hybrid approach, which includes being active in both cinema and politics, has yielded limited electoral results.

Critic Pritam K Chakraborty says that Vijay's popularity is no accident.

Vijay started as a child actor in the 1980s and in 1992, his parents, filmmaker S. A. Chandrasekhar and singer-songwriter Shobha Chandrasekhar, made him a lead actor with Nalaya Theerpu. The film was a flop, but his career did not take off.

He appeared in nearly 70 films over the next three decades. In the 1990s, he began appearing as a hero in romantic films, while after 2012, he appeared as a savior in films.