New Delhi [India], March 24 : The editor of Thuglak magazine, Swaminathan Gurumurthy, on Tuesday discounted the chances of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay to win the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, saying that he should have joined hands with the AIADMK or Congress.
In an ANI interview, Gurumurthy said that actor-turned-politician Vijay has a "hero mentality," while lacking a "good strategist" for the polls. He noted that the "anti-DMK thrust" by Vijay will eventually benefit the NDA.
Noting the "weakening" of DMK and AIADMK in the state, he said, "Tamil Nadu is passing through a stage where the weakened DMK and ADMK will be the bridge for the change in Tamil Nadu politics. That's where Vijay tried to enter. But Vijay, of course, has the hero's mentality. So he feels that everybody should chase him. He was wrong. He didn't have a good advisor. He didn't have a good strategist."
"I had said that the best combination would be Vijay and ADMK. That would have been an unbeatable combination. But afterwards, ADMK joined hands with the BJP. Then I said the best combination would still be for Vijay to associate with the Congress, but they didn't have someone who could bring them together," he added.
Gurumurthy cited former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran's rise into politics after a successful acting career, and said that Vijay should have prepared for the 2026 polls five years in advance.
He said, "Vijay thinks popularity will make up for everything. Let's assume he addresses 20 rallies. In each rally, there are about 25,000 people, that is (a total of) five lakh people. Where does it take? Your core circle is five to six lakh people, and they have no connection with one another. This is not going to work. In fact, he should have done this preparation five years ago. MG Ramachandran entered politics in 1972 and contested elections in 1977. He even brought the ADMK out of the DMK. ADMK was the core, the MG Ramachandran's fan base, and they had 40 MLAs, four ministers, five MPs and district secretaries, town secretaries; they were all MGR fan club."
When asked if Vijay would make a dent in either the DMK or the NDA camps, Gurumurthy said that the anti-DMK sentiment would work against him like the "anti-establishment wave" did not aid Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder Vaiko.
He said, "In the case of both Vijay and Seeman, the anti-DMK thrust they give will ultimately work against them. In 1996, Vaiko broke the DMK into two, virtually. Jayalalitha assumed Karunanidhi was gone. But when the anti-establishment wave built, the first casualty was Vaiko. He got three per cent votes because if Jayalalitha has to be defeated, it is not Vaiko who will defeat her. It is only Karunanidhi. So the entire vote base of Vaiko shifted to Karunanidhi."
"The more anti-DMK feeling, Vijay builds. And people know he is not going to defeat the DMK. The only force which can defeat the DMK is ADMK and BJP," the Thuglak magazine editor added.
Vijay is set to make his electoral debut with TVK, attempting to turn the upcoming elections into a three-way contest. In September 2025, the Karur stampede, killing 41 people, added a dent to his preparations and campaign. However, he has resumed holding rallies and is banking on his popularity to convert into electoral gains.
Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting scheduled for May 4. The current tenure of the 234-member state assembly ends on May 10.