Actor Vijay’s interactions with his fans association have led to strong speculation that the actor might test the political waters in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
CHENNAI: Actor Vijay’s interactions with his fans association have led to strong speculation that the actor might test the political waters in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. On Saturday, during a meeting with the functionaries of the IT wing of Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI), the leader of the wing who is considered close to the actor instructed the members to swiftly share the actor’s announcements via social media with appropriate hashtags.
They were also instructed to reach ground-level workers via WhatsApp groups. Vijay also said the existing 1,600 WhatsApp groups of the fan club should be reorganised and strengthened across 234 assembly constituencies. The fan club members were also told not to indulge in any arguments on social media.
Multiple functionaries of the fan club TNIE spoke to said they see these instructions as preparation to test the waters by fielding candidates at least in some of the constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls next year.
A district-level functionary told TNIE that even established political parties are giving much importance to their IT wings and hence the instructions to the fan club’s IT wing is to make it more visible. A source privy to the developments said the instructions are clearly given the anticipated political launch. “In the coming days, similar meetings will be held for all wings and uniform instructions will be given,” the source said. Also, around 30,000 functionaries are set to be appointed to the IT wing to intensify its activities, and the number of WhatsApp groups will be expanded from 1,600 to 10,000.
The fan club has various wings - for students, advocates, cadre, traders, auto drivers, and farmers. It is said functionaries are being appointed to all these wings at various levels. Commenting on the developments, film director Liyakath Alikhan, who played a key role in converting the actor Vijayakanth’s fan club into a political party (DMDK), told TNIE, actor Vijay’s father, SA Chandrasekhar was well-versed in the transition of Vijayakanth’s fan club into a political entity.
“Taking cues from Vijayakanth’s journey, Chandrasekhar structured Vijay’s fan club with political parallels. It appears, based on the sub-structure created by Chandrasekhar, they are now moving towards the next phase - launching a political party.” Veteran political journalist Durai Karthi pointed out Vijay’s interaction with winners of local body elections, who are associated with the fan club, subtly hinted at his political aspirations.
“Also, his gesture of rewarding students from every assembly constituency suggests he aims to establish a positive presence across all constituencies through philanthropic actions.” The actor is also planning to establish evening tuition centres for underprivileged students in every assembly constituency reflect hisresolute political intent. “The instructions given to the IT wing are a strong hint that Vijay is making preparations for a political debut,” said Durai Karthi.
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