Mumbai, May 7, 2026
Author-columnist Shobhaa De has spoken about actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s growing political presence, saying that despite being a “novice”, he deserves a fair chance to prove himself.
Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single-largest party in the 234-member Assembly.
Talking about the actor-turned-politician, Shobhaa told IANS: “Vijay is a novice. He’s won on a young vote… the Gen-Z vote… He appealed to them. He has not so far proved himself as a politically astute person, but he has won.”
“The point is, in a democracy, everyone is given that chance. He has got that chance. Now, we shouldn’t judge him because of his lack of experience. Let’s give him a chance, let’s see what he has to offer…”
She went on to draw parallels with Tamil Nadu’s long history of film stars entering politics and also pointed out that former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, too, entered politics with not a lot of experience and yet went on to become one of the state’s most powerful leaders.
Shobhaa said: “In any case, the cult of movie stars, gathering great followings in Tamil Nadu, is not new…. Most of their former iconic Chief Ministers started their careers as popular stars. He’s the next one. Let’s give him a chance and see what he does.”
“Jayalalithaa didn’t come in with a lot of political experience either, and she turned out to be one of the most powerful Chief Ministers of the state,” she added.
Tamil Nadu politics has witnessed rapid developments after TVK emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats, falling short of the majority mark of 118.
The Congress, which won five seats, has already announced conditional support to Vijay for government formation, while TVK has also reached out to the CPI, CPI(M), and VCK, seeking additional backing.(Agency)
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