This plot would appear straight out of the home turf of superstarVijay's Kollywood. A more than five-decade-old rivalry coming to an abrupt end over the fear of one man. However, this is no movie plot. This isTamil Nadu's political potboiler. The arch-rivals we are talking about are the two Dravidian parties of the state—Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The man they fear—Thalapathy Vijay.
Sources say backchannel talks are underway. A section within the DMK, particularly those aligned with Udhayanidhi Stalin, fears Vijay could recreate the phenomenon once achieved by the AIADMK's iconic founder M. G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, who kept the DMK out of power for years through sheer charisma and mass appeal.
On the other side, the AIADMK is said to be open to exploring such an arrangement amid an existential crisis. Since the death of J. Jayalalithaa, the party has suffered four successive electoral defeats and continues to struggle for political relevance.
As suspense remains, some sources even claim that the unlikely bridge between the two rivals could be the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is seeking to prevent the Congress from benefiting through its alignment with the TVK.
Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami during a press conference in Chennai where they announced their alliance for Tamil Nadu's 2026 polls. (PTI Photo)
The story goes back decades to the complicated relationship between M. Karunanidhi and MGR, once close friends, collaborators and the two towering faces of the Dravidian movement. Karunanidhi, the master strategist and celebrated writer known as "Kalaignar", helped shape MGR’s political rise through cinema and the DMK. MGR, meanwhile, became the movement's charismatic mass face. Their partnership defined an era in Tamil Nadu politics and cinema.
The peak of their cooperation came in 1969, when MGR backed Karunanidhi’s elevation as Chief Minister after the death of DMK founder C. N. Annadurai. In return, Karunanidhi ensured MGR became the party treasurer. But ambition and popularity soon created friction that one party could not contain.
MGR eventually split from the DMK to form the AIADMK, permanently reshaping Tamil Nadu politics.
MG Ramachandran seen here with M Karunanidhi | File photo
From then on, the state effectively became a two-party battlefield dominated by the DMK and AIADMK. Barring alliances with either of the two Dravidian giants, no other party since the 1990s has managed to emerge as a serious independent force in the state.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
