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'Vijay opened people's eyes': In Chennai, jubilation outside one party office, heartbreak at another

Scroll | May 5, 2026 1:40 AM CST

Athikesu Sundarsagar, 73, was born in Malaysia, is a Malaysian citizen who served in the country’s armed forces and now lives in Australia.

But on Monday, he stood outside the Chennai office of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam as the two-year-old political party founded by actor-turned-politician Vijay pulled off a dramatic victory in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

“After all, I’m a Tamilian,” Sundarsagar said. “I belong to Malaysia, but my heart belongs in Tamil Nadu.”

Sundarsagar is a supporter of the TVK because he is a fan of Vijay. His favourite movie of Vijay was the 1999 thriller Nenjinile, where the actor plays a poor young man who takes to a life of crime in Mumbai but ultimately kills his criminal boss to protect a woman he loves.

“These other political parties were giving bribes to people to get their votes,” Sundarsagar said, referring to a Rs 5,000 monthly aid given to more than a crore women in the run-up to the polls by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government. “But Vijay has opened people’s eyes.”

As of 7 pm, the Election Commission website said the TVK was poised to win over a hundred seats and become the single-largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Neither the DMK, led by outgoing Chief Minister...