Inside Actor Vijay's Poll Strategy: Why His Statewide Tour Will Only Be On Weekends

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and actor Vijay is set to launch his much-anticipated statewide political tour today in Tamil Nadu's Trichy, kicking off what is being seen as his first major step toward the 2026 Assembly elections. As part of the opening leg, Vijay will also address supporters in Ariyalur and Perambalur districts.

The campaign, which will run until December 2025, has already become a talking point for its weekend-only format - largely on Saturdays - a clear departure from the style of traditional Dravidian parties.

A member of Vijay's core team, speaking exclusively to NDTV, described the approach as a "new style, setting a new trend." Explaining the thinking behind the format, he said, "Vijay doesn't believe in creating hardship for the cadre or the public. A Saturday would be a holiday for most, and hence they need not lose their livelihood to attend his meetings."

The strategist also pointed to Vijay's massive digital presence as a force multiplier. "Vijay's recent speech touched 4 crore views on YouTube. Compare that with our Chief Minister's live sessions with too few followers. Vijay wants his speeches to reach the masses digitally, and this model amplifies and works well," he said.

On why Vijay has chosen to hold conferences in 38 districts instead of all 234 constituencies, unlike the traditional Dravidian outreach style, the source said: "That's the old way. Vijay doesn't want public life to be disturbed or cities crippled. He can walk in every constituency, but that would paralyse life. He doesn't want that".

Ahead of the launch, TVK released a new logo for the tour with the tagline "Your Vijay, I Am Coming." The design features Vijay's image superimposed over the map of Tamil Nadu, along with the message "History Repeats in 2026" - a reference to the watershed 1967 and 1977 elections that catapulted Annadurai and MGR to power, ending Congress dominance and unseating the DMK, respectively. Vijay has repeatedly said he hopes to trigger a similar political wave.

Although Tamil Nadu has not seen a film star rise to the Chief Minister's chair after MGR and Jayalalithaa, with actors like Sivaji Ganesan, Vijayakanth, Sarathkumar and Kamal Haasan falling short - often entering politics at the fag end of their acting careers - Vijay's team believes his case is different. With a cult following and an electoral plunge at the peak of his career, they say Vijay is confident of making a decisive impact.

Vijay has called the ruling DMK his ideological enemy and the BJP his political enemy, and said that the battle is only between the ruling DMK and TVK. Though he was silent on AIADMK earlier, leaving room fora  possible tie-up, he turned critical of the AIADMK at his Madurai conference recently.