Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder and actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay made a historic election debut in Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026 by crossing the majority mark in trends as the Election Commission of India counts the votes.
Vijay, who is himself contesting from two seats – Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli (East), is leading from both seats. If the counting trends turn into final results, Vijay is expected to become the first person not toDMK, the non-AIADMK Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu since 1967. Follow Tamil Nadu live results updates here.
Launching his party TVK in 2024, Vijay has gone public with a one-man campaign, presenting himself as a “family member” in every Tamil household. Vijay’s campaign aims to provide a “whistle-blower revolution” to oust the ruling KDP, which he described as an “evil force”.
TVK also denied entering into an alliance with the BJP, which Thalapathy described as an “ideological enemy”.
Vijay, the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu?
Joseph Vijay was born in 1974 and is the son of director SA Chandrasekhar. In his 2026 election affidavit, he declared the assets were overvalued $624 crore, including transferred assets $404 crore, making him the richest candidate in the fray. Now he appears ready to be the next prime minister Tamil Nadu if the trends turn into reality.
His personal life was also in the limelight after the divorce filing by his wife Sangeetha, with whom he has a son, Jason Sanjay, and a daughter, Divya Sasha.
Getting into politics
Vijay’s entry into the political arena comes after a high-profile shift from his acting career, where he was known as ‘Thalapathy’, which means leader. His dual-constituency strategy mirrors that of legendary leader Jayalalithaa in 1991, though his move drew criticism from the DMK’s Udhayanidhi Stalin, who mocked the actor for having “one leg in every seat”.
Despite facing a CBI probe into the 2025 Karur stampede and a delay in the release of his latest film, Jananayakan, Vijay maintained a “non-allyship” stance, describing the BJP as an “ideological enemy” and the DMK as a “political enemy”.
Vijay promises
Monthly newsletter from $2500 per woman in Tamil Nadu, $10,000 for unemployed graduates, cooperative crop loan waiver, ministry for artificial intelligence – Vijay’s TVK made a host of promises targeting the southern state’s women, farmers, and younger population in its manifesto.
Launching TVK’s election manifesto, Vijay, one of the most popular actors in the state, said the document is based on the principles of the Tamil text Thirukkural composed by Thiruvalluvar — aram (virtue), porul (wealth) and inbam (joy), qualities he described as essential aspects of politics and administration.
The 95-page manifesto focused squarely on social welfare, from charity to loans.
For women, TVK promised $2,500 per month for women heads of households up to the age of 60 years, six free LPG cylinders per year, a separate state government administration to ensure their security and special courts for women.
She also promised a sovereign gold coin and a silk sari for every bride. She said that the mothers would receive a golden ring for the newborn. For girls up to grade 12, their mothers or guardians will receive it $15,000 a year to reduce school dropouts. For women self-help groups, the party promised a single financial grant of up to $5 lakh.
For students between Class 12 and PhD level, the party promised collateral-free loans of up to $20 lakh and a ‘transparent’ schedule for all recruits in the Tamil Nadu government. It also pledged to provide a monthly unemployment allowance of $4000 for graduates and $2500 for diploma holders.
Vijay’s party also promised income generation, even as it emphasized that it would provide relief to the unemployed and highly skilled workers. She said that graduates who receive skills training will receive this $10,000 per month and will be received by ITI diploma holders $8000 per month. The party has promised to employ half a million youth at the village level as part of the “CM People Service Associate” programme, a job that will earn them money. $18,000 per month.
The statement also urged and incentivized companies to employ local residents. Companies employing 75% local employees will get a 2.5% GST subsidy and a 5% discount on electricity tariffs.
A large part of the manifesto was dedicated to farmers. The party promised a cooperative farm loan waiver for those who own up to 5 acres of land and a 50% concession for those who own more than 5 acres. Legally guaranteed minimum support price $3500 for rice and $4500 pounds per quintal for sugarcane. She promised to introduce a farmer rights card that would provide $10,000 for tenant farmers and farm labourers.
The actor also promised a Citizen’s Privilege Card for every family to be able to benefit from the party’s promised bouquet of government schemes, in addition to the implementation of the “Right to Service Law”, which will codify and enforce the timely provision of all government services. Citizens will be able to submit petitions directly to the state legislature, 500,000 responses will be taken up for discussion, and 10,000 signatures will result in a “mandatory” government response.
Vijay also promised to look into restoring the old pension system – a consistent demand among workers in the southern state – and said that all temporary employees who have completed 5 years will be regularised, besides implementing a transparent transfer policy. For police officers, he promised to increase the basic salary from $18000 to $25,000 plus the addition of A $1000 “High Pressure Allowance”.
