DMDK’S one big hope in Tamil Nadu elections: Vijaya Prabhakaran in Virudhunagar

Can a son who grew up in privilege succeed in claiming the mantle of his father who positioned himself as the voice of the ordinary man? Can DMDK resurrect itself in the first assembly election the party is facing after the demise of Vijayakant? Can DMK succeed in increasing its southern strike rate by its strategic inclusion of DMDK in the alliance? Virudhunagar assembly segment, where DMDK scion Vijaya Prabhakaran is contesting, holds much of the answers for these questions.

In 2024, Vijaya Prabhakaran lost the Lok Sabha election by just 4,379 votes to Manickam Tagore of Congress. This time Vijaya Prabhakaran and his DMDK are in the DMK camp and the odds have changed. DMDK and DMK are not just banking on Vijayakant’s legacy, but also on the caste arithmetic. The segment has considerable Telugu speaking population, who are expected to back DMDK. DMK men say their own strength and that of DMDK’s support base would give a clear edge to Vijaya Prabhakaran in the election.

DMDK Virudhunagar west district secretary M Syed Kaja Sheriff is confident of Vijaya Prabhakaran’s chances. “People like him. They say that it’s like seeing Captain Vijayakant,” Sheriff said. “We have huge support from the public, especially from the naidu community and the alliance parties. Vijaya Prabhakaran is a son of the soil who hails from Ramanujapuram in Aruppukottai,” he adds.DMDK functionary Dhanasekaran B said Vijaya Prabhakaran goes to the people saying “I am your servant; give me a chance.”

AIADMK, which has fielded V G Ganesan, a businessman from the mukkulathor community, is quickly mobilizing alliance parties to help offset DMDK’s influence. For its part, AIADMK is consolidating its support by bringing together its alliance partners such as AMMK, which had stayed away last time. “We are uniting our allies, unlike in the previous election,” said AIADMK’s Virudhunagar west district presidium chairman S R Vijayakumaran.

“We observed that the devendra kula vellalar community voted less for our alliance in the previous assembly election. To gain their votes, we have roped in key leaders from the community such as Santhana Priya, daughter of late C Pasupathy Pandian,” he said. “We have also invited Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam founder P John Pandian to campaign in these areas,” he added.

Actor Vijay’s TVK has fielded a local realtor P Selvam. And NTK has named R Lakshmanan, owner of a local poultry business.

BJP state executive committee member Gajendran M is equally confident of ally AIADMK’s chances. “The people are full of enthusiasm. Caste arithmetic won’t work in this constituency,” said Gajendran. “DMK has failed to fulfill its promises and we are seeking votes from the people by highlighting this,” he said. Gajendran added BJP had done a lot of work in the constituency during the time of G Pandurangan as district president and that this would pay off now.