Prakash Raj has spent the last few weeks asking Tamil Nadu voters to think carefully before they voted. According to him, they did not listen to him, but he is fine with Vijay-led TVK winning the election. The veteran actor took to social media to congratulate Vijay and target Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar for asking the actor-politician to produce letters demonstrating support of 118 MLAs before invitation to form the government.
Prakash re-posted the video of a disappointed TVK worker who captured Vijay leaving the Governor’s house and wrote, “This Governor s behaviour is Disgusting .. unacceptable and unconstitutional. We may have differences … but Vijay has got the mandate . He should be allowed to claim his right on the floor of the house. #justasking.”
He also wrote in another post, “Respect people’s Mandate and let Vijay claim his right to form the government #justasking.”
This Governor s behaviour is Disgusting .. unacceptable and unconstitutional. We may have differences … but Vijay has got the mandate . He should be allowed to claim his right on the floor of the house. #justasking https://t.co/T72CVedXhJ
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) May 7, 2026
Speaking to India Today after TVK emerged as the single largest party in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the actor was candid about where he stood, not as a party worker, he said, but as a citizen with genuine concerns about what comes next. He had doubts about Vijay as a political leader going in. But on whether Vijay should be allowed to form the government, Raj did not waver. “First thing we will have to do is accept the mandate,” he said.
TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly in its debut election, ending nearly six decades of power alternating between the DMK and the AIADMK. With Congress announcing its support after breaking away from the DMK-led alliance, Vijay met Arlekar on May 6 to formally stake his claim. The Governor asked him to return with letters of support from 118 MLAs, the majority mark, before any decision would be made.
Referring to Vijay’s combined support of 108 TVK seats and five from Congress, he said, “Governor’s house is not the truth. Besides, it is the floor of the House.” He said the Governor had “no business” deciding the matter at Raj Bhavan, and asked, “Let him claim, let him prove on the floor. Why are you even not giving him the democratic right with the mandate?” He called the delay “very unfair” and said plainly that it was “not democracy.”
‘Worked with him on several films’
Prakash Raj earlier said he had known Vijay for most of his career, worked with him on several films, but the two had never once discussed politics. That gap, he said, was where his concerns lay. “Popularity itself cannot be the model for governance. Does he have a clear vision on finance, agriculture, education, and the handling of the bureaucracy?” and noted that emotional appeal did not translate automatically into administrative capacity.
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“It worries me when someone like Palanivel Thiaga Rajan lost, and when someone like Stalin lost, because the question was not just whether voters wanted an alternative,” Raj had said in the aftermath of election result.
On poll promises and cash transfers, he was direct: “Who are you to give my money to me?” He said governments could not simply promise jobs without explaining how they would create them, and that every party making promises should be judged on whether they were accountable for them.
Even so, he said the people’s verdict had to be respected, whether or not he liked Vijay. He said, “The opposition should sit in opposition without horse-trading and let the democratic process continue.”
On Vijay’s win, he remarked, “Darling, you have won. Congratulations to you,” he said. “Please prove me wrong. Give good governance to Tamil Nadu. That is all I need. There is nothing personal against you.”
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