Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

DMK, AIADMK have gone quiet after defeat. TVK’s Vijay is going on the offensive after win

Tamil Nadu CM Vijay's 'animal spirits' aren't about consolidating power. They are aimed at making sure Udhayanidhi Stalin never gets the chance to rise.

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s government has faced severe political turbulence in its first 60 days, with the principal opposition, the DMK, accused of trying to destabilise it through counter-horse-trading. Yet the more telling story of these two months isn’t Vijay’s turbulence. It’s the DMK and AIADMK’s silence after their double defeat. Both parties, so used to alternating power in Tamil Nadu for nearly six decades, have gone into a lull. Vijay, on the other hand, has gone aggressive even after winning.

Vijay, a calm, cultured persona, has suddenly found an animal spirit — the kind that belongs in a cinematic blockbuster. He has piloted his government well, flying above the dark clouds and switching off the seatbelt sign from the cockpit. That, at least, is how Vijay’s supporters and analysts read his handling of his clashes with the Dravidian giants. And it is yielding him steady advantages.

TVK still has no organisational strength

The biggest cloud Vijay faces is his own unsettled party organisation, which still has loose ends everywhere. He faces this discomfort on two fronts. Nearly 75 per cent of the AIADMK’s top leadership has joined the TVK, but Vijay still treats former CM Edappadi Palaniswami as his chief rival within that camp. On the other front, he is up against his real political challenger — Udhayanidhi Stalin, Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

In 60 days, Vijay has handled both fronts capably.........

© ThePrint