Chennai: The official launch of actor Vijay’s new party, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, is facing hiccups as the organizers of the event could not finalise the venue as they went about scouting for a proper place in various places like Trichy, Salem and so on before zeroing in on the grounds of a private engineering college at Vikravandi in Villupuram district.
Even after the Vikravandi grounds were identified, the organizers were not sure of police permission for holding the massive show of strength, going by their previous experiences with various venues that would be ideal for the supporters and fans of Vijay to travel from every nook and cranny of the State and converge at a point.
Venues in the central point of the State, Trichy, could not be booked as permission was denied on the ground that the congregation might cause a nightmare for motorists passing through the area. The large number of vehicles that were expected to bring in at least five to seven lakh supporters could cause not only traffic jams but also have no parking space at all around the meeting venue, it is felt.
However, even as the hunt for the venue was on, other arrangements were being made and a broad agenda, too, had been worked out, sources said. Unveiling the party flag, which would be picked from the final array of designs, would be the most important event of the launch as the plan is to start flying the flag in all the over 12,000 panchayats in the State with a view to familiarizing the masses.
All the fan clubs of the actor would be converted into party offices and the new flag would be hoisted in the premises. For some of the fan clubs, politics is not new as they have fielded candidates in the rural local body elections in the past and have even been successful. So the expectation is that the fans of Vijay will take to politics like fish to water.
Other agendas of the inaugural include the unveiling the policies and principles of the nascent party, for which teams were giving the final touches, and the introduction of the top office-bearers who would be in charge of the day to day activities of the party.
The ‘IT Wing’, the most important component of any political party structure in modern times, is said to have been set up to tackle the digital onslaughts in social media that are likely to start soon after the launch of the party.
It is believed that the driving principle of the party would be to strive for the welfare of the people by adopting Dravidian philosophies like social justice, equality, stress on education and healthcare and ushering in economic progress through industrial growth.
Vijay's support for the abolition of NEET and some of his actions like recognizing school toppers are indications that he would opt for the Dravidian growth patterns.
With Vijay’s father S A Chandrasekar, who is a well-known film personality, behind the preparations for the launch of the party, it is believed that the new party would lure people from the film world in large numbers into its fold as supporters and backers. It is rumoured that some top actors have encouraged Vijay in his political venture and hoped to provide an ‘alternative.’
After the launch, Vijay would be a full time politician – his last film GOAT would have hit the screens by then – meeting media persons regularly and issuing political statements on current issues.
