Actor-turned-politician Vijay launched Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) with the promise of taking on Tamil Nadu’s political giants; the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); independently.
But an internal party meeting recently exposed a serious challenge.
At an online discussion led by party organiser Bussy Anand, several district leaders admitted that TVK is struggling to find candidates who can spend the unofficial ₹5 crore required to contest an Assembly election.
While the Election Commission’s official spending cap is ₹40 lakh, insiders say real campaign costs are much higher.
The issue sparked an unexpected debate inside the party. Many leaders suggested that TVK may have to consider an alliance, something the party had earlier ruled out.
Some even raised the question: if TVK joins hands with the AIADMK, will Edappadi K Palaniswami still remain the Chief Ministerial candidate, and what role would Vijay get?
Sources say nearly three-fourths of the leaders present in the meeting supported exploring alliance options, citing financial and organisational constraints.
For now, TVK leadership is still weighing its choices. But the meeting has revealed a harsh political truth: launching a movement may be easy; funding an election battle is far harder.
