{"id":2347,"date":"2026-10-01T08:31:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T08:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/01\/tamil-nadu-vijay-tvks-successor-aiadmk-dharapuram\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T08:31:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T08:31:53","slug":"tamil-nadu-vijay-tvks-successor-aiadmk-dharapuram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/2026\/10\/01\/tamil-nadu-vijay-tvks-successor-aiadmk-dharapuram\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay Positions TVK as Successor to AIADMK Ahead of Dharapuram By\u2011Election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Quick Adsense WordPress Plugin: http:\/\/quickadsense.com\/ -->\n<div class=\"9fece8afa224fd09e54b043d0febfb58\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- NR ATF -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8898941184964366\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"4839033563\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, who also serves as president of the Tamil Nadu Vanniyar Katchi (TVK), used a campaign rally in the Dharapuram (Reserved) constituency on Wednesday to present his party as the logical continuation of the AIADMK legacy. Speaking before a large gathering, Vijay praised the late AIADMK chief ministers Jayalalithaa and M.\u202fG.\u202fRamachandran, asserting that their leadership style should guide the state\u2019s future politics.<\/p>\n<h2>Defending a Defector<\/h2>\n<p>The rally was centered on TVK candidate Sathyabama, who is contesting the by\u2011election after resigning from the AIADMK and joining TVK. Vijay said the \u201cbrazen\u201d move by the current AIADMK leadership to consider an alliance with the DMK \u2013 the party\u2019s historic rival \u2013 forced Sathyabama to leave a party she had served for decades. He framed the decision as a principled stand against a perceived betrayal of AIADMK\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n<p>During the event, Sathyabama took the stage, broke down in tears, and recounted the personal abuse she has faced since switching parties. She told the audience that she had withdrawn from social media for two months because of \u201cobscene taunts\u201d directed at her. \u201cI entered politics inspired by Amma Jayalalithaa. If I had done anything wrong, I would not have come to seek votes with my head held high,\u201d she said, emphasizing that her departure was not motivated by personal dislike of the AIADMK but by the attitude of the party\u2019s general secretary, Edappadi\u202fK.\u202fPalaniswami.<\/p>\n<p>Sathyabama also thanked Palaniswami, alleging that his attempt to \u201ccosy up\u201d with the DMK was the decisive factor that pushed her away. She suggested that, but for that overture, she would have remained within the AIADMK fold.<\/p>\n<h2>Accusations Against AIADMK and DMK<\/h2>\n<p>Vijay seized the moment to criticize the AIADMK leadership, claiming that the alleged \u201cDMK nexus\u201d had stripped the party\u2019s general secretary of any legitimate authority. He questioned why Palaniswami appeared agitated when Vijay highlighted references to DMK corruption in the Sarkaria Commission report.<\/p>\n<p>Referring to the broader political landscape, Vijay said TVK is adhering to the tenets of the late C.\u202fN.\u202fAnnadurai by creating opportunities for the poor to become legislators and ministers. In contrast, he portrayed the DMK as still \u201cfixated on family hegemony.\u201d He positioned TVK as the sole party capable of confronting what he termed the \u201cevil\u201d DMK.<\/p>\n<p>Vijay also mocked DMK president M.\u202fK.\u202fStalin\u2019s recent gratitude to voters in the Kolathur constituency for not electing him, joking that the party would eventually face \u201cignominy in all constituencies.\u201d He described the perceived tacit understanding between the DMK and AIADMK as a \u201cbenami alliance,\u201d insisting that such destabilising machinations would never succeed because \u201cevery family in Tamil Nadu has begun treating me as a member.\u201d He added that the more the opposition disrespects him, the higher the public esteem he expects to receive.<\/p>\n<h2>Development Promises for Dharapuram<\/h2>\n<p>Turning to concrete policy, Vijay listed achievements made by TVK in the four months since the party took over the constituency\u2019s political leadership. He pledged to accelerate long\u2011pending projects related to irrigation, drinking\u2011water supply, and broader infrastructure development in Dharapuram. He urged the assembled crowd to reject what he called \u201clies\u201d from opposition parties and to cast their votes for the TVK candidate.<\/p>\n<p>In a symbolic gesture, Vijay joined the audience in blowing a whistle \u2013 the party\u2019s emblem \u2013 and called for a collective commitment to the TVK\u2019s vision for the region. The rally concluded with appeals for unity and a call for the electorate to support the party\u2019s claim of being the \u201corganic successor\u201d to the AIADMK\u2019s storied past.<\/p>\n<p>The by\u2011election, scheduled for early October, will test whether Vijay\u2019s narrative resonates with voters who have witnessed a series of party realignments and shifting alliances in Tamil Nadu\u2019s volatile political arena. Observers note that the outcome could signal the strength of TVK\u2019s claim to inherit the AIADMK\u2019s legacy and its capacity to deliver on promised development projects in the Dharapuram constituency.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay urged voters in Dharapuram to back TVK, casting the party as the natural heir to AIADMK while defending the defection of former AIADMK MLA Sathyabama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[299],"tags":[2565,2567,2566,2332,559],"class_list":["post-2347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-aiadmk","tag-by-election","tag-dmk","tag-tamil-nadu-politics","tag-tvk","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsraise.com\/in\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}