Overview
- Speaking to roughly 30,000–35,000 people in Erode, Vijay held his first major Tamil Nadu rally since the Karur stampede and framed the 2026 race as a direct TVK–DMK contest.
- He attacked the DMK on irrigation and agriculture, fair pricing for turmeric, pending weavers’ dues, high MSME power tariffs, unfilled government jobs, education promises including NEET, and women’s safety.
- Vijay invoked Periyar, Annadurai, MGR and Jayalalithaa to validate his pitch and argued these legacies belong to all of Tamil Nadu rather than any single party.
- Former AIADMK heavyweight K. A. Sengottaiyan, now a TVK coordinator, oversaw the event and presented Vijay with a sengol, underscoring TVK’s effort to draw from AIADMK’s base.
- Organisers highlighted tightened safety—over 1,000 police, extensive CCTV and medical teams—while the DMK hit back by calling Vijay a “killer force” and pointing to the 41 Karur deaths and the CBI case transfer.