Actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Vijay, was unanimously endorsed as the chief ministerial candidate of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam at the party’s state executive council meeting in Chennai on Friday. The decision positions the recently formed outfit to take on established Dravidian parties in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election. The council adopted a resolution declaring that TVK will neither directly nor indirectly ally with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or the Bharatiya Janata Party. Addressing delegates, Vijay accused the BJP of "dividing people based on religion" and said any future coalition would have to be "led by TVK and opposed to both the DMK and the BJP." Political rivals responded quickly. Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran called the stance "his personal choice," while CPI general secretary D Raja said it is too early to gauge the new party’s ideological position. DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai noted that his party has never sought an alliance with TVK. TVK officials said Vijay will begin a statewide tour in September following a second state-level conference in August, and has set a goal of enrolling up to two crore members to build grassroots strength ahead of the 2026 contest.