Vijay begins 2026 poll campaign in Trichy; fans turn 20-min drive into 5-hour crawl
TVK founder gets rousing reception at his first election rally after the party's formation, as he embarks on a state-wide tour for next year's TN Assembly polls
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder, actor-politician Vijay, kicked off his campaign for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in Trichy on Saturday (September 13) amid utter chaos and confusion.
This was Vijay's first campaign-tour after he founded the TVK last year. He was accorded a rousing reception by his party workers and admirers at the Trichy airport around 10 am. But what happened after that was way beyond anybody's anticipation.
As soon as Vijay landed in Trichy by a chartered flight from Chennai, enthusiastic TVK workers, carrying party flags, pushed away barricades at several spots on the airport premises to get a glimpse of their leader.
Also read: Vijay's TVK gets police permission for its first election campaign in Trichy
As the crowd, including women, surged, Vijay's campaign vehicle moved at a snail's pace and he waved at party workers from inside the bus and cadres waved party flags, sported party flag-based headgear and many displayed his photographs to welcome him.
Supporters and office-bearers gathered in two-wheelers and cars as well. Traffic in Trichy came to a standstill as Vijay's supporters and fans thronged the road to the venue in Marakkadai, all the way from the airport, some 8.5 km away.
A journey that should have taken not more than 20 minutes turned into a painstaking crawl of five hours as the actor-politician's convoy made its way to the rally venue. Finally, Vijay addressed the people from atop the bus itself in which he travelled from the airport. But even that was marred by a technological glitch, and most of what he said was incomprehensible to his audience.
Police had imposed over 20 conditions for the conduct of the rally, but even they had been unprepared for the chaos that unfolded in Trichy on Saturday.