Prashant Kishor, actor Vijay share stage during TVK party's first year anniversary

Jan Suraj party chief Prashant Kishor attended Tamil actor Vijay's party Thamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)'s first year anniversary on the outskirts of Chennai on Wednesday.

The former poll strategist recently joined the actor's party as an advisor ahead of the state assembly elections next year.

Speaking on the occasion, Vijay asserted that his TVK party was emerging as a political force in state politics, dominated by two Dravidian majors. “We are emerging as the primary political force in Tamil Nadu politics with a firm commitment to creating history in 2026 like 1967 and 1977 without compromising ideological principles at any cost,” ANI quoted him saying.

Amid speculations of a possible alliance with the opposition AIADMK, the actor said that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. “This is politics at a different level because we don't know when someone will support, someone will oppose. We can't predict that, and that's why it has been said there is no permanent friend or enemy,” said Vijay, who is quitting acting career after his upcoming film titled “Jana Nayagan”.

Vijay described the tug of war between the DMK-led state government and the Centre over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as a kindergarten students fight.

“Funds to education have been stopped for the State Government. This is like LKG - UKG students fight. Their responsibility is to give, state responsibility is to get that is our rights. Amid these big problems, two (BJP and DMK) are playing with Hastag,” Vijay said.

DMK allies dismiss TVK's ‘strategy’

Prashant Kishor visited the actor at his residence earlier this month to brainstorm strategy for the upcoming state assembly elections.

The DMK and its allies played down Kishor's association with Vijay. The IPAC founder was associated with the state ruling party as a poll strategist during its victory in the 2021 election.

DMK leader Kanimozhi said the party is dependent only on its workers to face the elections and the party leaders and cadres are prepared to follow party chief Stalin's guidance.

CPI(M) leader K Balakrishnan said cinema popularity alone would not guarantee success in politics. Tamil Nadu people are politically conscious, and Kishor cannot engineer support for the TVK if that was not already available, he added.

Google Trends

According to Google Trends, the search term "Prashant Kishore" gained traction on Wednesday, peaking on the same day before declining on Thursday. Most searches came from Puducherry, followed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, and Kerala. Related queries included Aadhav Arjuna, Thalapathy Vijay, Michelle Trachtenberg, TVK Party, and the Pakistan vs Bangladesh match.

The surge in interest came after Prashant Kishor attended Tamil actor Vijay's party, Thamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), during its first-anniversary celebrations.

(With agency inputs)