TIRUCHY: The rambunctious crowd and fan frenzy at Vijay’s rallies have generated enough buzz for Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, but the actor-politician’s restricted physical presence on the ground, lack of strong local leaders, paucity of funds, and weak grassroots network are creating challenges for his party candidates in turning that popularity into votes.
During a recent roadshow in Tiruchy West, only a campaign van, two autorickshaws, some kids with whistles, a few women, and some men on bikes accompanied the TVK candidate’s convoy.
In nearby Woraiyur, the party’s door-to-door outreach was led by small clusters of students and women.
Even loyalists admit that these modest local efforts fail to match the massive, high-energy crowds, typical of Vijay’s major public appearances.With the star restricting himself to select appearances, the party has to rely on surrogate campaign methods.
In Kumbakonam, an AI-generated hologram of the actor-politician was deployed to draw crowds.
In other places, cut-outs (Thiruverumbur) and lookalikes (Kolathur) were used to sustain the visibility.
But such campaigns have their limitations.“In most parties, top leaders share the stage with candidates, introduce them by name, and build local recognition.
Here, even during Vijay’s recent visit that drew large crowds, candidates were not introduced to the voters,” said a party functionary from Manapparai.
.Across districts, candidates, many of them first-timers, say their campaigns are largely self-funded.
Small daily contribution from a handful of supporters is helping them pull through.”We don’t have big money like other parties,” said a party functionary in Karur, summing up the campaign reality of TVK.A party functionary at Sengulam in Tiruchy said local workers are pooling in money to cover basic expenses like event arrangement and music.
“We cannot afford to spend big.
There is no structured....
