India’s top factory hub hopeful, wary as film star Joseph Vijay set to take reins
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Actor turned politician Joseph Vijay is president of the politically inexperienced Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party, which came first in Tamil Nadu's recent state election.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Actor Joseph Vijay's TVK party won Tamil Nadu elections, ending a decades-long duopoly. He aims for a US$1.5 trillion economy in ten years, driven by anti-incumbency desire for change.
- Businesses are cautious about TVK's inexperience but expect policy continuity. The party plans to attract investments in high-tech sectors and eliminate red tape for equitable economic growth.
- Tamil Nadu, a major manufacturing hub, sees another actor-politician rise. Vijay must balance demands of young voters and businesses, despite historical labour issues and calls for cheap labour.
AI generated
CHENNAI/SINGAPORE – An actor turned politician’s stunning rise to power is being greeted with caution in India’s top manufacturing state Tamil Nadu, home of factories of global manufacturers supplying Apple and Samsung.
Mr Joseph Vijay’s party came first in state elections this week, winning 108 seats in the 234-seat assembly and defeating two parties that have ruled the state for decades. Mr Vijay, 52, has promised to turn Tamil Nadu into a US$1.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion) economy over the next decade by sustaining its rapid economic growth.
The state’s economy grew by nearly 11 per cent in the past fiscal year, making it one of the key drivers of India’s overall economic growth.
On May 6, Mr Vijay met the state’s governor Rajendra Arlekar as he prepares to form the government, and his party entered coalition talks with potential partners.
Inexperienced leadership
Many businesses, however, are anxious about Mr Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party’s lack of political experience as many of its elected candidates are first-timers.
Anti-incumbency, voter fatigue with the decades-old duopoly of the two major established parties, and Mr Vijay’s appeal as a charismatic outsider promising generational change helped TVK win, analysts and voters said.
“My vote was driven primarily by the desire for political change,” said Mr Sarath Kumar, a young voter from Chennai who switched from a traditional party to TVK.
“My constituency candidate is 31 years old, and that reflects a shift towards giving opportunities to a younger generation,” he said.
Executives across sectors, including textile, real estate and technology, said they expected broad continuity in economic policy under a TVK-led government, citing the state’s experienced bureaucracy and well-established industrial ecosystem.
When asked about concerns about the party’s lack of experience, a TVK official said its leadership planned to engage with technical experts, though it had yet to finalise its plans.
New political order
Tamil Nadu has a long history of screen icons leveraging their mass appeal and fan bases to build powerful political careers, including actors M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa as well as screenwriter M. Karunanidhi, who all have served as chief ministers.
Mr Vijay burst onto the Tamil cinema scene as a teenager in 1992 and achieved superstar status in India with blockbuster films such as Ghilli and Thuppakki. His recent films, Kaththi and Sarkar, tackled social issues like farmer suicides and corruption.
He also appealed to the working class by playing an unemployed youth, fisherman, baker and honest police officer in his films, though some of his films have also drawn criticism for glorifying the male saviour figure.
Pictures of film star and TVK party president Joseph Vijay for sale by a vendor during vote counting for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election on May 4.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Vijay launched TVK in 2024 and formally quit acting months after, with his latest film Jana Nayagan awaiting release.
The southern state of Tamil Nadu is a major automotive hub often called the Detroit of Asia because of its manufacturing ecosystem, which includes Hyundai, Renault Group, Ashok Leyland and TVS Motor.
It is also home to major electronics manufacturers, including Apple suppliers such as Foxconn, and Samsung, which operates a large home appliance factory there.
Both companies faced labour protests in recent years over wages and working conditions, and Mr Vijay will be expected to balance the demands of an aspiring, young voter base and businesses attracted to the state for its relatively cheap labour.
“Hopefully, the new government would not create big disruption, but rather aid business,” said Mr Sree Balaji, chief executive of True North-backed software company iLink Digital, which employs more than 500 people in the state.
The TVK official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters the party supported equitable economic growth and had pledged to attract large-scale investments in semiconductors, electric vehicles, aerospace, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
“Economic growth is a priority. We expect investments to flood Tamil Nadu due to elimination of red tape,” the official said. REUTERS
