3 min readHyderabadMar 18, 2026 09:40 PM IST
A year after his first iftar gathering in Chennai spiraled into a police complaint and a national controversy, TVK president Vijay chose a very different approach this Ramzan. On Wednesday evening, the actor-turned-politician attended a special iftar gathering in Mamallapuram, and by design, it was nothing like what came before.
The event, scheduled from 6 pm to 9 pm at a hotel in Mamallapuram, was strictly invitation-only, capped at 1,000 guests selected from across Tamil Nadu. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam made it explicitly clear that no on-the-spot entry would be permitted under any circumstances. It was a sharp contrast to the 2025 Chennai gathering, which drew around 3,000 people to the YMCA Grounds in Royapettah and ended with a police complaint alleging that the event was disorganised and that the presence of people unconnected to Ramzan had insulted the Muslim community.
TVK clarified that the gathering had been organised with prior permission from the Election Commission, in view of the ongoing election period and the Model Code of Conduct currently in force. The party also arranged for live television coverage so that supporters who were not among the invited guests could still follow the event without turning up at the venue. The TVK leadership appealed to invitees to cooperate fully with the guidelines and maintain order throughout the event. The gathering is being closely watched as part of Vijay’s broader outreach efforts ahead of the Assembly elections.
The lessons from last year appear to have been absorbed. The 2025 Iftar, though widely praised initially for showing Vijay fasting through the day and offering prayers before breaking the fast, became a controversy within days when the Tamil Nadu Sunnat Jamath lodged a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner alleging that the event had been poorly managed and had disrespected the sanctity of the occasion. A fatwa was also subsequently issued against him by a Sunni Muslim body based in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Vijay did not publicly respond to either at the time.
This year, the controlled format sends a deliberate message. A smaller gathering, a hotel venue, EC permission in hand, no walk-ins, live coverage for those outside.
Vijay is expected to contest the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections under the TVK banner independently, without forming any alliance. Jana Nayagan, his final film before he steps away from cinema entirely to commit full-time to politics, is still awaited.
Leave a Reply