Anbarasan Ethirajan

When pictures of Madhar Badhurudeen, campaigning in the recent assembly elections in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, emerged on social media, few thought he would stand a chance. Badhurudeen belongs to the political party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), headed by film star-turned-politician Chandrasekhar Joseph Vijay, popularly called Thalapathy (Commander) Vijay. He contested from the Madurai Central constituency, home to the Meenakshi Amman temple, a popular Hindu shrine. Ahead of the elections last month, Badhurudeen, a 42-year-old meat shop owner, was seen seeking votes accompanied by a group of TVK supporters.

In contrast, his two rivals from the dominant regional parties – the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) – had high-decibel rallies, colourful processions and high-profile senior leaders and celebrities campaigning for them. They were also heavyweights – the DMK candidate was state minister and senior leader Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and the AIADMK had well-known actor-filmmaker Sundar C.

So no-one, including political analysts, thought that Badhurudeen – a skullcap-wearing Muslim contesting from the Hindu-dominated central region of a famous temple city – would win. He was not from a prominent family or a political dynasty. Even TVK leader Vijay didn’t visit his constituency to campaign for him.

But last week, Badhurudeen defeated his powerful rivals, winning with a margin of more than 19,000 votes.

“My only strength was our leader Vijay and the electoral symbol of the party (a whistle). I campaigned based on the principles of our leader, offering a corruption-free administration,” Badhurudeen told the BBC….

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4pn1z8x45o

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In Focus Podcast | Making sense of TVK’s victory: Why and how did Vijay win? | Part 1

In part one of this two-part interview, Pon Vasanth B.A., senior assistant editor with The Hindu, asks V. Geetha, feminist historian, translator and publisher, about her reading of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s victory in the 2026 Assembly election that stunned many.

She shares her thoughts on how Vijay’s win represents a “contingent moment”, the shortcomings of the DMK and the AIADMK, the shrewdness of the TVK’s campaign and other factors that played a role in this electoral outcome.

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Defying capitalism and socialism, Kumarappa and Gandhi had imagined a decentralised Indian economy