'He threw away a great opportunity': Why Vijay should have followed the Pawan Kalyan model

Actor-politician Vijay, who announced his entry into politics about two years ago, has ruled out any alliance with the DMK, AIADMK, or BJP for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. His party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), has decided to field candidates in all 234 assembly seats.

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That decision could prove to be his biggest mistake, according to R Kannan, author of DMK Years.

Kannan, a former UN official who has written extensively on Tamil Nadu politics, believes Vijay should have followed the "Pawan Kalyan model".

"If Vijay had followed the Pawan Kalyan model, he would have had a good chance of becoming an alternative to one of these two parties in the next general election," he said in an exclusive conversation with Business Today. "But now, I think the third alternative that Vijay showcases will be snuffed out after these elections."

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When asked what he meant by the Pawan Kalyan model, Kannan said Vijay should have allied with the AIADMK, remained a junior partner, and after five years of gaining political experience, gone solo.

"For him to have aligned with the AIADMK. AIDMK to be the senior partner, and for him to be a junior partner and to wait his turn five years down the road to flex his muscles against both the regional parties," Kannan says, explaining the Pawan Kalyan model.

"In those five years, he would have learned his party and his colleagues more deeply; he himself would have learned administration, would have been exposed to governance, would have understood the difficulties of governing a state such as Tamil Nadu, and would have educated himself, his colleagues, and his cadres."

"He threw away that great opportunity," the author concluded.

Actor and politician Pawan Kalyan founded the Jana Sena Party in 2014. The party went solo in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, contesting 137 seats but winning just one - Razole constituency. Pawan Kalyan himself lost both seats he contested - Bhimavaram and Gajuwaka.

However, he changed tack in the next election and joined the TDP-BJP alliance under the NDA. In the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, Kalyan contested 21 seats and won all of them. He now serves as the deputy chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Vijay's fledgling party, launched on February 2, 2024, will contest the assembly election for the first time this year. The actor is positioning the TVK as a viable alternative to the ruling DMK. 

However, barely two years into politics, Vijay has already run into controversy over a stampede during his public event in Karur. He is facing a CBI probe in connection with the incident, which claimed 41 lives and left more than 60 people injured during his rally.

Tamil Nadu Assembly elections are expected in April-May 2026.