Karur over Manipur: An actor, deadly stampede, and race for political mileage

Synopsis: TVK’s supporters are new to politics. Many of them had never shown any interest in political matters. Their understanding of politics comes primarily through social media. They belong to a generation largely indifferent to traditional political discourse, with little to no engagement in movements or political literature. This untested yet vast support base is now scrambling to protect their messiah from crucifixion. At least, that’s how they perceive it. And the old political forces, which have so far failed to dent the DMK’s dominance, see an opportunity.

Three days after the deadly stampede in Karur, Vijay released a well-scripted but poorly directed video. He challenged the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to arrest him instead of initiating coercive action against TVK members.