CHENNAI, Apr 15: TVK chief Vijay on Wednesday conducted a massive roadshow in Chennai as part of his campaign for the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
While the actor-politician drew massive crowds in T Nagar and Thousand Lights, he skipped the planned visit to the Egmore (SC) constituency.
TVK General Secretary ‘Bussy’ N Anand had posted on X a day ahead that “permission has been granted by the Election Commission to conduct election propaganda via vehicle from 4 pm onwards in the Chennai constituencies of T Nagar, Thousand Lights, and Egmore (SC)”.
Speaking to reporters later on the sidelines of the roadshow in T Nagar, Anand, who is also the TVK candidate for the constituency, dismissed the queries by journalists about Vijay’s frequent skipping of scheduled events as being “asked for the sake of asking”.
“You are just asking whatever comes to mind to trap me,” Anand said, reacting to reporters who pointed out that the leader’s campaign status remained “unclear”.
He, however, maintained that the reception in T Nagar was “very nice” and expressed absolute confidence in a TVK victory across all 234 constituencies.
According to Election Commission’s website, TVK has candidates only in 233 constituencies – in Edappadi, the applications have been rejected for being incomplete.
Vijay’s skipping of Egmore follows a pattern that has begun to characterise his maiden election tour. Similar last-minute cancellations were recently witnessed during his visits to the delta districts and Madurai, often attributed by the party to “uncontrollable crowds” and security concerns.
However, political observers noted that such frequent skips, especially in reserved constituencies like Egmore, could send mixed signals to the electorate.
Before the roadshow, as is now customary, TVK headquarters had issued a strict advisory urging supporters not to follow the convoy on two-wheelers and advised vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and senior citizens, to watch the live stream instead of attending in person.
Despite the procedural hiccups and the truncated route, the T Nagar stretch saw a complete shutdown of traffic as Vijay, standing atop his campaign vehicle, greeted a sea of supporters. (PTI)
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