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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

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Vijay gets his Sarkar in real life—too many odds are stacked against him

By letting his alliance partners help Vijay form a majority, Stalin looks like a statesman who has respected the public mandate. He would rather have Vijay fail.

In 2018, at the audio launch of his film, Sarkar, Vijay was asked if he would become a real-life CM. “If I become the Chief Minister, I won’t just act like one. I will do my job with sincerity,” he reportedly said.

In the movie, Vijay plays the role of a ruthless NRI businessman who returns from the US to find that someone else has already cast his vote. His fight against that electoral fraud leads him into a war against the political class.

Incidentally, Gyanesh Kumar was still in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2018. Otherwise, who knows—Vijay would probably have been fighting against the deletion of his name in the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in that movie.

“If you want to change the government, don’t look for a leader. Become the leader,” reel-life Vijay of Sarkar says. The ruling and the opposition parties come together to defeat him. No prize guessing who won. Vijay wins the election but decides to make an honest IAS officer the CM.

In real life, Chandrasekaran Joseph Vijay decided to do the job himself. As he took oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Sunday, he may well have in mind what he had vowed to do at the audio launch of Sarkar seven-and-a-half years ago—to do the job with sincerity. 

It’s probably too early to ask if he can. Or is it really early?

Vijay’s wobbly coalition

Look at how he has cobbled together a majority in the Assembly—with parties that still swear allegiance to what he calls his political enemy, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Vijay’s party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam or Tamil Nadu Victory Party, has 107 members after he resigned from his second seat, Trichy East. 

For now, Vijay can count on the support of five Congress MLAs. If you saw Rahul Gandhi at the venue of Vijay’s swearing-in ceremony in Chennai on Sunday, you might get the impression that the two were long-lost pals. 

Back in 2009, Vijay and his father visited Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi at the latter’s behest. Gandhi reportedly wanted Vijay to join the Youth Congress, but the actor had other plans. 

Seventeen years later, as Gandhi sat beside Vijay in Chennai on Sunday, the Congress leader was beaming with pride. Should this make Vijay assured of the support of 112 MLAs? Let’s see. 

These five Congress MLAs owe their poll wins to MK Stalin’s DMK, not Gandhi. Vijay can surely count on them as long as the DMK sits in the opposition, biding its time. 

Then there are........

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