The first major takeaway from actor-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay's Erode rally is unmistakable: the animosity between the TVK and the ruling DMK has only intensified.

The DMK's sharp attacks on Vijay - particularly its attempts to hold him and his party responsible for the tragic stampede in Karur on September 27 - appear to have hardened his political posture. Vijay's response has been to turn this into an open and bitter rivalry.

Invoking the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Vijay justified the fierce language she once used against the DMK. Declaring the DMK an “evil force” and positioning the TVK as the “pure force”, he delivered the message with the flourish of a cinematic monologue - equal parts vehemence and vengeance.

By framing the upcoming election as a battle between good and evil, Vijay is deliberately reviving memories of the Jayalalithaa-Karunanidhi rivalry - an intense, deeply personal feud that defined Tamil Nadu politics until they died in 2016 and 2018. Crucially, Vijay is attempting to rewrite the state's political script: no longer DMK versus AIADMK, but DMK versus TVK.

Vijay's use of Periyar's name, accusing the DMK of exploiting the state in the name of the Dravidian icon, underlines the ferocity of the rivalry he is building. Periyar remains the DMK's most powerful ideological symbol, and attacking the party on this front is a calculated provocation, especially in Erode, which is Periyar's birthplace.

This emotionally charged DMK-versus-TVK narrative does not just threaten the ruling party. It........

© NDTV